91视频

At a certain point, human genome mapping is more of a math problem than a scientific challenge.

鈥淲ith the advent of very affordable, incredibly high-speed computers with huge, huge, huge, previously unimaginable amounts of memory, whole new avenues of research have become available to people if they’ve got suitable equipment and technical support to pursue it,鈥� said Dana Johnston, associate dean of natural sciences for the University of Oregon.

Genomics is one of many research fields at UO that could benefit from a new data center the university is developing. The 3,800-square-foot facility will be in the basement of Allen Hall, which is undergoing a $15 million renovation and expansion.

The data center will be the first to join the campus in 40 years. Johnston said it will be a kind of game-changer for scientists who presently use piecemeal computing systems.

鈥淎 lot of people 鈥� at universities anyway 鈥� are still operating with a box under their desk, or a zip drive, or a memory stick as their backup,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淎 lot of people have them in just completely environmentally inappropriate areas with no backup power, no backup memory, no backup Internet, no professional systems administration 鈥� and we kind of just limp along as best we can.鈥�

Other scientists at UO are using data to compose thermal maps of the Cascadia subduction zone. But some number crunching is required.

鈥淚n tomography, be it medical or seismic, you do this literally with millions and millions of crossing ray paths, and it becomes a gigantic problem of trying to find the optimum solution that best describes more data than you can possibly imagine,鈥� Johnston said.

That is where the Allen Hall data center’s approximately 51 racks full of hard-drive equipment will come in. Ron Bayles, project manager for , the company designing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems for the project, said the size of a data center is less important than the number of racks it can hold. Heat is the key factor.

鈥淵ou don’t even have a minute before these things will overheat without cooling,鈥� Bayles said.

While a typical rack in a standard data center can accommodate three to five kilowatts of power without overheating, Allen Hall’s racks will be able to handle seven to 11 kilowatts of power. Approximately 14 will be high-density racks able to support up to 30 kilowatts of power.

Bayles said that kind of power draw usually requires at least twice as many square feet as Allen Hall has. But UO plans to maximize that space via an elaborate, water-chilled cooling system that will pump cold water through underground pipes to individual units.

Typical data centers rely on large air conditioners that cool entire rooms rather than individual racks, but Allen Hall’s system will let engineers control each modular unit’s temperature. Bayles said to think of it as the difference between a fan on an old desktop computer, and one on a new laptop.

The cooling system will take advantage of UO’s central chilled-water cooling plant, and Micah Sardell, associate director of systems and operations, said the data center will have backup power and cooling systems. It also will be environmentally efficient.

鈥淲e can actually use ambient air to chill that water most of the year,鈥� he said.

Construction of the data center is being financed with private money, and Sardell said work will move forward once the larger Allen Hall renovation progresses.

Sardell said the data center will be a huge boon to scientists with closets full of aging and outdated equipment.

鈥淚t will let those researchers focus on their research needs,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey can focus on their research rather than keeping their computers running.鈥�

Johnston said the data center will also help the university get funding for future research projects here and abroad.

One group that would benefit immediately is a team of physicists analyzing data from CERN’s large hadron collider near Geneva, Switzerland. UO researchers are receiving huge quantities of cutting-edge data on a daily basis.

鈥淭hey have a very large server themselves with huge memory capabilities, but they’re anticipating in a matter of months they’re going to be out of space,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淎nd that experiment’s going to go on for many more years.鈥�