News

U.S. Department of Energy Awards $3.3 Million Contract to DICE Program

Avetec"s HPC Research Division tests and evaluates new and emerging technologies

10/27/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO (October 20, 2009) – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded a $3.3
million contract to Avetec’s Data Intensive Computing Environment (DICE) Program for research on high
performance computing (HPC) data management technologies.

The contract is directed through Sandia National Laboratory and will help fund the testing and evaluation of
new and emerging technologies that address the issues related to distributing large sets of data across
geographically dispersed HPC sites around the world. The contract will also research the use of Obsidian
Strategics Longbow technology and parallel file systems and supports the program’s Technical Advisory
Panel (TAP), which includes members from the technology community to oversee and advise the DICE
program on its research.

“This funding helps us continue to solve the data transport problems associated with high performance
computing through our geographically distributed research network,” said Roger Panton, Executive Director
of the DICE program. “Our test and evaluation services match DOE’s identified need for an ‘agreed-upon,
trustworthy, vendor-neutral testing body’ for emerging technologies.”

In addition to funding research projects for HPC, the contract will also provide funding to improve the current
nodes installed at Avetec. These nodes help transport information on the high performance network and must
be maintained over time.

“We have been successful in collaborating with the national labs on past projects, and we find we’re most
successful when we can work together to raise the knowledge base for data centers and vendors,” said Panton.
The actual testing outlined in the award will be conducted within the DICE environment, an independent,
representative test bed comprised of geographically distributed HPC centers located throughout the U.S. The
DICE environment connects HPC centers with high-speed, real-world, wide area networks and provides the
platform to identify, test and evaluate new and emerging technologies designed to enhance the use and
management of HPC data.

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