Computing Facilities

BIAC Computational Linux Cluster

BIAC has been recently awarded a NCRR/NIH Shared Instrumentation Grant to install a large 400-CPU-core Linux cluster (total memory 1600 GB) to serve our escalating computational needs. This new facility will greatly expand the capability of our existing 40-CPU-core small cluster. The cluster is expected to be connected with our large online storage servers through a unified and efficient single interface.

IBM p670

This supercomputer is now retired and replaced by the Linux cluster. BIAC had an IBM pSeries 670 server with sixteen 64-bit Power4 processors, 64 GB of total system memory, and 1.3 terabytes of storage connected via dual Gigabit Fibre Channel connections.

Brain Imaging and Analysis Center Network

BIAC's network consists of twelve data servers and approximately 100 Windows and Linux workstations connected by fifteen Gigabit Ethternet Cisco switches. BIAC's network is connected directly to the 10-Gigabit 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 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 that are available to collaborating investigators and students, one in Hock Plaza and one in Duke Hospital North. The labs contain 12 Windows-based workstations, each with 2 GB or more of RAM.