GSI utilises Foundry to power HPC network

BANGALORE, INDIA: Foundry Networks, solutions provider for switching and routing has announced the German-based Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) selected its high-performance computing (HPC) networking solution.

Foundry's 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) switching solution for the GSI's particle accelerator network and facility allows wire-speed handling of the enormous volume of data resulting from experiments with the GSI's own revolutionary particle accelerator and with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva.

Established in 1969, the goal of the scientific research conducted at the GSI is to understand the structure and behavior of the world that surrounds us. The GSI operates a world-leading accelerator facility for heavy-ion beams, used for fundamental research. At the GSI, over 300 scientific researchers and engineers and more than 1000 guest researchers per year, from around the world, conduct research into areas ranging from nuclear and atomic physics to plasma and materials research as well as biophysics and cancer therapy. By leveraging Foundry's performance-focused switches, the GSI is able to efficiently transport and process data from the collisions of subatomic particles on about 2,500 processing cores with computing power of 20 teraflops. The input and results data are stored on about 70 servers with a capacity of 700 terabytes.

The GSI decided on Foundry's high-performance networking solution to ensure congestion-free communication for its large group of computing and data nodes. Foundry's BigIron® RX-32 Layer 2/3 backbone switch was capable of fulfilling these extreme switching capacity demands through industry-leading port density. The switch delivers maximum flexibility and throughput, with up to 1,536 ports of GbE or 128-ports of 10GbE in a single chassis at wire-speed. The research institute is also extending its existing HPC network with Foundry's FastIron® Edge X and FastIron SuperX™/SX Layer 2/3 switches while expanding several links to 10 gigabit Ethernet.

With the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the GSI is leading the scientific program concerning heavy ion experiment known as 'A Large Ion Collider Experiment' (ALICE). To cope with the large quantities of data produced by this program, the GSI participated in the construction of World Wide Grid, an evolution of the World Wide Web. The GSI's data center is an established part of the Grid for analyzing data from ALICE. GSI staff expects that data volumes will reach approximately two million gigabytes per year, or the equivalent of about 3 million CDs.

"GSI is a high-technology institution that puts extremely challenging demands on its network," said Dr. Mathias Münch, responsible for the IT infrastructure at the GSI. "Foundry Networks' advanced switching technology is able to meet our unique performance needs. We've also been very satisfied with the support services provided by Foundry Networks and our system integrator Pan Dacom."

"We are pleased that the GSI has selected Foundry's incomparable industry-leading HPC solution to help advance important particle research," said Ken Cheng, vice president and general manager of Foundry's High-End and Service Provider Systems Business Unit. "The solution's unprecedented density, scalability and wire-speed capabilities will help maximize the power of the HPC network while allowing class-leading total cost of ownership and energy and space efficiency."