1. NASA Center for
Computational Sciences
launches new global
research
Let’s build a smarter planet
The NASA Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS), based at
Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, is one of two organizations
Overview
that together support the NASA High-End Computing (HEC)
The Need Program. The HEC Program provides more than 77,000 computer
NASA’s scientists needed to run higher- processors and peak processing power greater than 800 trillion
resolution simulations to improve their
floating-point operations per second (teraflops) to the NASA user
understanding of the changing global cli-
mate, boosting their contribution to sev- community.
eral major global research initiatives.
The Solution The NCCS is a global leader in climate and weather modeling
The NASA Center for Computational research, providing specialized support to the science community
Sciences expanded its Discover super- within NASA and making significant contributions to high-profile
computer, adding IBM iDataPlex dx360
global research initiatives.
M2 servers with a total of 8,256 Intel
Xeon 5500 Series processor cores.
Climate and weather modeling depend significantly on computational
What Makes it Smarter
Enhanced computational capabilities force: faster processors with access to more memory can run more
allow NASA climate scientists to run detailed simulations within shorter timeframes. Aiming to keep push-
high-resolution simulations that repro- ing the envelope and create ever more detailed climate simulations, the
duce atmospheric features not previously
seen in their models, supporting vital
NCCS has just added more than 1,000 IBM iDataPlex™ dx360 M2
global research. water-cooled servers to its Discover cluster, providing a total of
8,256 new cores of computational power and over 24 TB of high
The Result
“The new cluster allows us to see atmos-
speed memory.
pheric features such as well-defined hur-
ricane eye walls and convective cloud “We are the first high-end computing site in the United States to
clusters for the first time—the differences
are stunning.”
install the Intel Xeon 5500 Series Quad-core processors dedicated
to climate research,” says Phil Webster, chief of Goddard’s
– William Putman, acting lead of the Computational and Information Sciences and Technology Office
Advanced Software Technology Group,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (CISTO). “This new computing system represents a dramatic
step forward in performance for climate simulations.”

2. Powering vital research
The NCCS Discover cluster is composed of six scalable units, all based
Business Benefits
on Intel Xeon® processors running SUSE Linux® Enterprise Server.
● Delivers ultra-high compute power in a The cluster now has 15,160 processing cores, 8,256 of which use the
compact, energy-efficient package latest Intel Xeon 5500 Series Quad-core processors.
● Enables new insights into global cli-
mate, supporting major international The four most recent units in the cluster are all based on
research initiatives
IBM iDataPlex servers, together providing more than 80 percent of
● Reveals previously unseen atmos- the total computational power of Discover. IBM worked with Panduit,
pheric features in models, enabling a an IBM Business Partner, to install the high-speed InfiniBand net-
closer match between simulations and
reality working for the new cluster units.
The upgraded Discover cluster will host NASA’s contribution to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading sci-
entific organization for assessing climate change, and other national
and international climate initiatives. For the IPCC studies, the NCCS
will perform a variety of short- and long-term simulations, with some
models going back a full millennium and forward to 2100.
The new IBM iDataPlex servers are helping the NCCS remain at the
forefront of global climate research. In addition to the IPCC initia-
tives, the organization is contributing to the U.S. Global Change
Research Program, the U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System, and
the U.S. Weather Research Program—plus several other international
programs. With more processing power, the NCCS can create more
realistic simulations of the effects of climate change on the planet.
These will be of critical importance in helping governments and other
agencies to plan more effectively for the future.
Smarter Public Sector: Enabling new insights into global climate
Instrumented The NASA Center for Computational Sciences generates
vast quantities of data from climate and weather models.
Interconnected The IBM iDataPlex solution brings together sensor data
from numerous sources and numerical models to produce
sophisticated and highly detailed climate simulations.
Intelligent The new computational capabilities enable NASA climate
scientists to create more detailed simulations and reproduce
atmospheric features previously not visible in their models.

3. Unprecedented power
Discover delivers unprecedented computational power, revealing previ-
Solution Components
ously unseen atmospheric features in weather models. At the higher
Servers resolutions made possible by the IBM iDataPlex machines, simulated
● IBM iDataPlex™ dx360 M2 features in the NCCS models are seen to be uncannily close to their
IBM Business Partner real counterparts in satellite imagery.
● Panduit
“The new cluster allows us to see atmospheric features such as well-
defined hurricane eye walls and convective cloud clusters for the first
time—the differences are stunning,” says William Putman, acting lead
of the Advanced Software Technology Group in Goddard’s Software
Integration and Visualization Office.
The Intel Xeon 5500 processors in the iDataPlex servers enable high
speed access to memory, making them especially well-suited to the
computational demands of climate studies. According to CISTO lead
architect Dan Duffy, “Speed is an inherent advantage for solving com-
plex problems, but climate models also require large memory and fast
access to memory.”
The Xeon 5500 processors in the IBM iDataPlex servers offer three
or four times the speed of memory access compared with Discover’s
previous-generation processors.
“We are the first high-
end computing site in Efficient computing
the United States to The NCCS aims to run lean, directing as much as possible of its fed-
install the Intel Xeon eral funding towards pure research activities. As energy costs continue
to rise, this means choosing hardware that is not only cost-effective to
5500 Series Quad-core buy, but also cost-effective to run. The IBM iDataPlex dx360 M2 is
processors dedicated to designed to deliver the maximum possible useful work from each watt
consumed, from its high-efficiency power supply to its innovative
climate research. This shared cooling features. In addition to increased efficiency within the
new computing system server, all IBM iDataPlex servers installed at the Center use innovative
represents a dramatic water cooling, removing 100 percent of the heat produced and reduc-
ing cooling costs.
step forward in per-
formance for climate For more information
simulations.” To learn more about how IBM can help you transform your business,
please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner.
– Phil Webster, chief of Goddard’s
Computational and Information Sciences and
Technology Office (CISTO) Visit us at: ibm.com/systems/x

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2009
IBM Systems and Technology Group
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Produced in the United States of America
November 2009
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