La. supercomputer network to link up with national one

Louisiana's top supercomputing network is being upgraded by linking up with "TeraGrid," a backbone of the nation's cyber-infrastructure.

The connection is made possible through a $2.2 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, according to the Louisiana Board of Regents.

LONI is a fiber-optics network that connects supercomputers at Louisiana's major research universities, allowing computation speeds 1,000 times the rate previously possible.

TeraGrid is an NSF-funded research infrastructure that incorporates high-performance computing resources at a handful of sites across the country.

The NSF award will fund initiatives for Louisiana researchers to develop broader use of LONI resources as well as underwrite the operations costs associated with joining TeraGrid.

As a member of TeraGrid, LONI will contribute half of its centerpiece supercomputer Queen Bee's computational cycles to the TeraGrid community, according to the Regents. LONI researchers will in turn be able to utilize the TeraGrid's national resources.

Ed Seidel, LSU's Center for Computation and Technology director and LONI chief scientist, said because only nine sites are partners on the TeraGrid, this puts Louisiana in high standing among nationwide, high-performance computing environments.