Computing Facilities

IBM p670

BIAC has recently purchased an IBM pSeries 670 server with a FAStT 700 disk subsystem which enables analysis of very large data sets. The p670 has sixteen 64-bit Power4 processors with 64 GB of total system memory and is able to run both AIX and Linux programs simultaneously. The FAStT disk subsystem provides 1.3 terabytes of storage connected via dual Gigabit Fibre Channel connections. The system is connected to the BIAC network via dual Gigabit Ethernet adapters.

Brain Imaging and Analysis Center Network

BIAC's network consists of three high-speed network switches (Cisco 3550's), which are connected to one another over a Gigabit Ethernet fiber optic connection. Workstations are connected to the network at Fast Ethernet speed (100 Mbits/sec). Servers are connected via Gigabit Ethernet. BIAC's network is connected directly to the Duke Medical Center network backbone via full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet to a Cisco Catalyst 6509 switch. The Medical Center backbone is connected to the University network (DukeNet) backbone also via full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet to a Cisco Catalyst 6509 switch. DukeNet is connected to the North Carolina Networking Initiative's (NCNI) ultra-high-performance fiber-optic ring network, which connects Duke to MCNC at OC-48 speed (2.5 Gbits/sec). MCNC/NCNI provides connections to the Internet, Internet 2 (Abilene), and VBNS+.

Data Analysis Laboratories

BIAC has two data analysis laboratories in the Bell Research Building that are available to collaborating investigators and students. The Howard Hughes laboratory (room 251) has approximately 700 sq. ft. of space containing 12 Windows-based workstations, each with 1GB or more of RAM. We have recently received a grant from Hewlett Packard Philanthropy of six Itanium 2 workstations. A second 200 sq. ft. laboratory (room 166) contains five workstations. All computers are networked to BIAC servers via Fast Ethernet.