The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research takes on smarter climate research

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) is a pioneer in interdisciplinary climate research. PIK scientists use climate modeling to study global climate change and its impact on ecological, economic and social systems. High-performance computing (HPC) is critical to this type of modeling. One of the challenges involves drawing conclusions about small-scale weather changes and short-term weather patterns, since brief storms or periods of drought are too short for computer models that are normally used to calculate long-term weather developments.

Pushing the limits of high-performance computing

During a recent project on extreme weather simulation, PIK researchers had to examine short-lived weather events, using comprehensive calculations to draw conclusions about when and where extreme weather events would occur and what their impacts could be. These calculations made very high demands on the institute’s IT systems, pushing their existing high-performance computers to their limits. As a result, the institute decided to install a new HPC computing cluster.

Potential technology providers had to demonstrate, using benchmarks, that their solutions would meet the institute’s demanding requirements. PIK chose an IBM Cluster 1350 supercomputer with 30 times the processing speed of the IBM POWER4™ system that was being replaced. Based on IBM System x® iDataPlex™ technology, the new system ranked #244 in the June 2009 TOP500 list of the world’s highest-performing supercomputers,¹ and #59 in the x86 cluster category in the June 2009 Green500 list of the world’s most energy-efficient computers.² The Cluster 1350 is administered via two IBM System x3650 servers using the Extreme Cluster Administration Toolkit (xCAT).

According to Karsten Kramer, Manager of the IT Infrastructure and Services Group at PIK, “With IBM, we are raising the bar every time when it comes to performance and energy efficiency. This is the only way that climate impact research makes sense.”

Powerful processing combined with energy efficiency

The new supercomputer integrates Intel® data processing and Voltaire InfiniBand switches, providing extreme processing density, a more efficient power supply, and improved cooling. Processors are cooled via water-cooled cabinet doors. Since iDataPlex cabinets are not as deep as standard cabinets, less air current is needed to cool the nodes; the blowers therefore operate at lower speeds, which also reduces power consumption. iDataPlex also requires less energy than comparable x86 systems, decreasing cooling demand per megaflop of processing power.

“Thanks to the IBM supercomputer, we were able to reduce power consumption by 25 percent compared to conventional solutions,” Kramer reports.

Industry-leading solutions for high-performance data storage and backup

After completing climate model calculations, the system uses IBM Tivoli® Workload Scheduler LoadLeveler® to ensure that large data records can be quickly stored on the hard drives, enabling users to run more jobs in a shorter time. A storage area network (SAN) with four IBM System Storage™ DS5300 enterprise storage systems is also connected to the supercomputer, with IBM General Parallel File System (GPFS™) providing 200 TB of usable data storage. The GPFS distributes the data to different disk drives, thus guaranteeing an extremely high data flow rate.

PIK controls backups and hierarchical storage management (HSM) via three IBM Power® servers running IBM AIX®, Tivoli Storage Manager, and AIX HSM Client. To protect existing storage investments, they also upgraded an existing IBM TotalStorage® 3494 tape archive to IBM S1130 disk drives.

Full deployment support from IBM Global Technology Services

Because of significant space and cooling constraints, the institute turned to IBM Global Technology Services (GTS) to help with solution installation. GTS handled project planning and implementation and provides ongoing comprehensive maintenance and support.

Powering more accurate conclusions in critical climate studies

The IBM supercomputing cluster makes it easier for PIK scientists to calculate highly complex simulations using the newest scientific models. Current weather data and results from international research projects can be integrated into the calculations. Based on this data, scientists can draw more accurate conclusions about extreme weather conditions and take into account small-scale changes and short-term activity. Conclusions concerning the climate and the ways it is influenced are therefore more accurate. This research can help reduce risks for humans and the environment.

“The systems for climate modeling are becoming increasingly effective and more efficient,” Kramer says. “One reason is innovative solutions from IBM.”

For more information

Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at: ibm.com/deepcomputing

For more information about the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, visit: www.pik-potsdam.de