May 20, 2004

Computing cluster a boost to social science research

Scholars and researchers in the social sciences have a new tool now that IT has installed a new, high-performance computing cluster recently installed at the Computing Services Data Center. The Social Sciences Computing Cluster (SSCC) replaces the current DCE cell (Distributed Computing Environment) for social science research with a high-performance rack-mounted cluster of dual processor Linux computers and provides a much-needed boost to research and data storage.

Tom Halloran (right), associate director of computing services, gives a tour of the IT server facility to President Henry S. Bienen and Provost Lawrence B. Dumas.

President Henry S. Bienen, Provost Larry B. Dumas, and Weinberg College Dean Daniel Linzer inaugurated the SSCC at an informal ceremony earlier this month.

“This will provide substantially greater computation and storage capacity for researchers,” said Gary Greenberg, executive director of teaching and research initiatives for IT.

The SSCC’s implementation resulted from extensive analysis of the computing needs of Northwestern’s social science community by a faculty committee representing schools on both campuses.

Features of the SSCC include a substantial CPU capacity for interactive and batch processing, large-file processing, support to the University Library Social Science Data Services archive, easy access to software, an ability to move large amounts of data to and from outside researchers via the Northwestern network, and development of parallel codes for high-performance computing.

Greenberg explained that the SSCC’s rack-mounted systems are easily expandable and uses low-cost, commodity computing hardware. All computers in the cluster are linked via a high-speed switched network connection.