With oversight provided by Patricia Waukau, upgrades have been made to the high-end compute and data server capability within the division. In January, two additional processors were added to the Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) Power Onyx system with funds from the Hong Kong project to continue their evaluation of real-time weather forecasting using the NCAR/Pennsylvania State University Mesoscale Model (MM5). This system was initially purchased with Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) funds as part of a joint project with SCD and the Ohio State University to couple the MM5 model with Ohio State's lake model. The proof of concept demonstrations for this project, to provide model interaction, data transfers, and voice and video conferencing over a satellite link, were completed successfully this year. William Boyd contributed significantly to this project.
In March, SGI loaned a 16-processor Power Challenge system to the MMM Division for a six-month period to evaluate and test its capabilities for multitasking various MMM model codes. A number of scientists were able to make signficant use of this machine for research purposes. In April, the Cray EL was replaced by a 4-processor Cray J90. This system has been a substantial resource to the Hong Kong project for code development and production runs of both the MM5 and Clark models. The recent purchase of additional disk capacity will further enhance this system.
During the month of March, a centralized data server was installed which significantly increased the data storage capabilities within the division. The data server disks are accessible to all hardware architectures available within the division. The data server system is a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Alpha workstation with 45GB of data storage and a tape stacker unit for archival purposes.
During the past year, the System Management Group converted a general use area into a classroom environment, to support the increasing number of workshops and tutorials being sponsored by the division for disseminating information about the various models. Earlier in the year, the NOAA Forecast Systems Lab discontinued support for its PC-based real-time weather workstations, making it necessary to replace the functionality of this system within MMM. This required installing a number of software packages, as well as setting up links to COMET and Alden Electronics Inc. for acquiring the real-time data directly.
In testing a coupled MM5/lake/wave modeling system, Jordan Powers (ASP postdoctoral visitor) discovered the potential for superperformance from the division's Cray J90. By distributing the system's computation between two directories, a job requiring 104 Mw was able to run on the 64 Mw machine. PVM software was employed to split both the model components and the computing. The result demonstrates that in certain circumstances, the Cray architecture may behave as a virtual memory system, and opens up the possibility of running jobs exceeding the specified memory capacity of the divisional resource.