Next gen supercomputer unveiled at Edinburgh uni
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A supercomputer capable of more than one million billion calculations in a second has been launched at the University of Edinburgh.
The £43million ARCHER (Academic Research Computing High End Resource) system uses Cray's XC30 hardware and runs on Intel's Xeon E5-2600v2 processor.
Created with funding from the EPSRC, it has up to three and a half times the speed of the HECTOR supercomputer system which it replaces.
The computer's twin rows of black cabinets are supported by the newly installed UK Research Data Facility, bringing together the UK's most powerful computer with one of its largest data centres.
It can also support Big Data applications, which should help researchers carry out complex calculations in areas such as calculating the airflow around aircraft, simulating the Earth's climate or designing novel materials.
Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea Principal, principal of the University of Edinburgh, said: "Now that Big Data is reaching into an even greater range of areas we are delighted to have the Archer facility and its support at Edinburgh.
"Together with the UK Research Data Facility, we and the research councils have a facility unique in the UK, combining some of the world's most powerful computers with a vast datastore and analysis facilities."
