Laconia, the new supercomputing cluster at Michigan State University’s Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research, has been named to two exclusive worldwide ranking lists: The Top 500, which ranks supercomputers based on their computer power, and the Green 500, which ranks them on their energy efficiency.
Laconia was ranked No. 205 on the Top 500 list, and No. 30 on the Green 500 list. Both lists are maintained by Top500.org, which has tracked and compiled the 500 most powerful computer systems in the world since 1993.
“Being recognized by the Top 500 is an enormous honor," said iCER Director Kennie Merz. "It was always a priority for us that Laconia should be built with the latest in cutting-edge HPC hardware, and this recognition is extremely rewarding.”
The Laconia cluster is the newest addition to the original supercomputer, which was launched at MSU’s High Performance Computing Center in 2005.
It’s been used by campus researchers in a wide variety of domains, such as the creation of artificial brains to study the evolution of higher intelligence and the development of models of water quality and quantity in the Great Lakes region.
Laconia doubles the speed with which campus researchers can complete their experiments, and enables iCER to reach out to additional research groups who may benefit from this new resource. It also utilizes a novel recycled water-cooling system that’s extremely energy efficient.
iCER provides a solid cyberinfrastructure that connects researchers from academia and industry with advanced computational systems and tools. It supports multidisciplinary research in all facets of computational sciences, and continually works to enhance MSU’s national and international presence and competitive edge in work that requires advanced computing.