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University of Copenhagen Deploys Force10 Networks in Tier One Termination Point for CERN's Large Hadron Collider

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 June 2008, 09:00 CDT

Force10 Networks(R), the pioneer in building and securing reliable networks, today announced that the Danish Centre for Scientific Computing at the University of Copenhagen (DCSC/KU) has deployed the TeraScale E-Series(R) family of switch/routers and the S-Series family of access switches at the foundation of Denmark's most powerful research supercomputer. Supporting more than 400 compute nodes with nearly 400 Terabytes of raw storage, the new supercomputer is part of the Nordic DataGrid Facility (NDGF) tier one termination point for CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

"As one of only 10 tier one termination points for CERN, it is important that this compute cluster is built to handle the large amounts of data that are expected to be generated by the collider," said John Renner Hansen, professor at the University of Copenhagen. "Over the last three years, Force10 switches have proven their reliability with absolutely no downtime, so we decided to request bids for this newest cluster to include Force10 at the core, which ensures that we can support the state-of-the-art research that will result from the collider experiments."

The University of Copenhagen is using the Force10 TeraScale E300 with its 288 Gigabit Ethernet ports to interconnect S50 switches and form the foundation of the newest compute cluster. By stacking the S50 switches together three at a time to manage as a single switch, DCSC/KU is simplifying management of the network and providing a high level of reliability at the edge. In the core, the support for up to 48 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports on the TeraScale E300 allows DCSC/KU to build a high performance core that can scale as data from the Large Hadron Collider increases.

As part of the NDGF tier one termination point for CERN, the University of Copenhagen's computing cluster collects, stores and processes the massive amounts of data produced by the Large Hadron Collider. Three research groups at the University of Copenhagen are using the power of the supercomputer and its tier one status to advance state-of-the-art research. The high energy physics research group includes physicists that are analyzing data collected by two CERN experiments on the Large Hadron Collider, ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) and ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus).

The ALICE experiment is a collaboration of scientists from 94 institutes in 28 countries that will collide lead ions to recreate conditions just after the Big Bang. The experiment is designed to obtain data that will allow physicists to study a state of matter known as quark. ATLAS, a research group that includes physicists from 37 countries and 167 universities and laboratories, is a particle physics experiment that will search for new discoveries in the head-on collisions of protons of high energy.

At the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, researchers will also study astrophysics using the power of the newest supercomputer. The university's Chemistry department, which houses the supercomputer, will also utilize the computing capacity.

"Force10's close relationship with the supercomputing industry has helped guide the development of innovative and technologically advanced products that deliver the network reliability that is so crucial to successfully conducting state-of-the-art research," said James Hanley, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Force10 Networks. "It is a validation of both the strength of Force10's products and its service and support that DCSC/KU required that the E-Series be a part of the supercomputer."

Primary funding for the University's supercomputer comes from the Danish Center for Scientific Computing and the Danish Natural Science Research Council.

About Copenhagen University

For more than 525 years, the University of Copenhagen has provided higher learning and is one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe. The largest institution of education and research in Denmark, the University linked up with the other institutions of higher education in the metropolitan area and in Scania, Sweden, to form the University of Oresund in 1997. These institutions provide the framework for increasingly integrated collaboration on research and education, the purpose of which is to provide a framework for increasingly integrated collaboration on research and education.

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is a pioneer in building and securing reliable, high performance networks. With its no compromise approach to networking and advances in high density Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching, routing and security, Force10 delivers the innovative technologies that allow customers to transform their networks into strategic assets at the lowest total cost of ownership. For additional information, please visit www.force10networks.com.

Force10 Networks and E-Series are registered trademarks, and C-Series, P-Series, S-Series, TeraScale and FTOS are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.

Source: Business Wire

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