FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News Release 21 December 2010

New Green High Performance Computing Resources to Benefit Canadian Researchers Unveiled at the University of

University of Manitoba - The province of Manitoba’s first energy-efficient High Performance Computing (HPC) resources are being launched today at the as part of the Compute Canada/WestGrid initiative. This system is made possible by a collaborative $8 million investment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund (MRIF), University of Manitoba and Silicon Graphics International (SGI).

The new HPC resources include a High Performance Computer Centre (HPCC), which will house the province’s new green HPC system. This system, named Grex, will allow researchers to perform complex calculations, solve complicated problems, and perform simulations in a few days instead of weeks or even months.

“Our government is proud to support Canadian researchers and innovators by investing in world-class facilities such as this,” said Rod Bruinooge, Member of Parliament for South, on behalf of the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification. “This Centre will attract investment and industry to Manitoba and strengthen Canada’s reputation for research excellence.”

“These resources illustrate our commitment to research, education, innovation and environmental stewardship,” said Digvir Jayas, the Vice-President (Research) at the University of Manitoba. “Our new HPCC facility will provide scientists with access to cutting-edge HPC resources, enabling researchers to make advances within the fields of science and technology, while lowering the environmental cost of these systems.”

Grex is an SGI® Altix® XE1300 cluster and is recognized as one of the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputers, scoring a ranking of 44 out of 500 on the annual Green500 list. Grex is the most energy-efficient system in Compute Canada/WestGrid, and ranks second overall in Canada.

The new HPCC facility is energy-efficient as it has an innovative cooling system that exchanges the heat generated by the HPC equipment through a campus-wide water- based heating system, re-using this energy and reducing the computing cluster’s carbon footprint. “Compute Canada and WestGrid are pleased to add these energy-efficient resources to the National Platform,” said University of Manitoba Physics Professor Byron Southern, a member of WestGrid’s Executive Committee and the Compute Canada National Initiatives Committee. “The system will open new doors of opportunity for research discoveries in many areas including disease diagnosis, materials manufacturing, and climate change management, to the benefit all .”

Michelle Liu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, believes the new HPC resources will facilitate more efficient communication through training seminars, collaborations and networks regarding problem solving, in addition to supporting her research.

“Currently, my research projects involve gene mapping for autism. This includes analyzing the relationship between millions of genetic variations in the whole human genome and a particular disease,” said Liu. “The new HPC resources will benefit us by providing access to genetic analysis specific programs, faster data analysis, data security, storage and back up.”

-30- For more information please contact:

Joni Evans Communications Officer Cybera [email protected] tel: (403) 210-5332

Janine Harasymchuk Manager, Research Communications and Marketing, University of Manitoba [email protected] tel: (204) 474-7300 cell: (204) 799-4802

Background:

The High Performance Computing (HPC) system - Grex Grex means herd in Latin. The name was selected because the University of Manitoba’s symbol is the bison. The system is currently undergoing beta testing and will be available for researcher use in the new year.

Features Include

• SGI Altix XE 1300 cluster with 316 compute nodes • Each compute node has two Intel X5650 2.66 GHZ six-core processors • Four SGI XE270 gateway nodes each equipped with two X5650 processors and 72GB of memory • Non-blocking Quad Data Rate (QDR) InfiniBand interconnect fabric • Lustre disk storage subsystem with 120 TB of storage attached via InfiniBand fabric • 3792 compute cores, 14.8 TB of memory, and 120 TB of storage capacity

For more information, visit: www.westgrid.ca/support/quickstart/grex

The High Performance Computer Centre (HPCC) The HPCC facility was designed specifically to house HPC resources, as the building’s dimensions, doorways and loading docks allow clearance for the installation of current - and future – generations of equipment.

As part of the continuing Compute Canada/WestGrid development, the University of Manitoba’s new $2.6 million facility houses approximately $5 million of computer equipment - some of the most powerful computers in Canada.

Compute Canada/WestGrid Compute Canada is a national platform that integrates High Performance Computing (HPC) resources at seven partner consortia across the country to create a dynamic computational resource. Compute Canada brings together high-performance computers, data resources and tools, and academic research facilities around the country. The Western Canadian Research Grid, WestGrid, is the HPC consortium that encompasses 14 partner institutions across , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Compute Canada/WestGrid has built a user community across Canada in disciplines ranging from the sciences and engineering to arts and humanities. This user community is supported by a distributed and cohesive team of technical staff and system architects. For more information, visit www.computecanada.ca or www.westgrid.ca

University of Manitoba As the province’s premier university, the University of Manitoba has played an integral role in the community for over 130 years. Along with educating tomorrow’s leaders, the university serves as a catalyst for the provincial economy – generating $1.8 billion annually. As Manitoba’s only research intensive, medical-doctoral institution, the university is a world leader in many areas: from the development of canola and advances in wireless communication to exploring the frontiers of global climate change and discoveries on HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit www.umanitoba.ca

Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund The Manitoba Research and Innovation Fund (MRIF) was created to help increase the capacity of the province’s universities, colleges, hospitals and other institutions to carry out important, world-class research and development. Since 2003, it has provided over $90 million in research and innovation support for health and agriculture, technology and aerospace, cultural and new media industries, and alternative energy developments. For more information, visit www.gov.mb.ca/ Western Economic Diversification Canada Western Economic Diversification Canada works with the provinces, industry associations, and communities to promote the development and diversification of the western economy, coordinate federal economic activities in the West and represent the interests of western Canadians in national decision-making. For more information, visit www.wd.gc.ca

Canada Foundation for Innovation The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed $5.3 billion in support of more than 6,800 projects at 131 research institutions in 65 municipalities across Canada. For more information, visit www.innovation.ca/en/about- the-cfi/cfi-overview.

SGI SGI, a trusted leader in technical computing, is focused on helping customers solve their most demanding business and technology challenges. For more information, visit www.sgi.com

Green500 List Green500 list provides a ranking of the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputers. This list was created to raise awareness regarding energy efficiency within the supercomputing community. For more information, visit www.green500.org.