ICHEC Seminar 2007

ICHEC in 2007, and beyond...

Dr. Jean-Christophe Desplat, Acting Director ICHEC

Abstract:

The Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) was established in December 2004 with a €2.6M grant from SFI. Within a short time of its inception, ICHEC has offered first rate High-Performance Computing (HPC) services to the research community, and has ensured a rapid uptake of HPC in Ireland.

ICHEC's dual mission is to enable and support excellence in research, while at the same time developing the grass root community to equip them with the skills and resources to increase their competitiveness. This dual mission is undertaken through the delivery of a professionally run high-availability service, including key added value services such as helpdesk support, nationwide training and consortium support activities.

With availability typically exceeding 98% and a total of 166 registered users, ICHEC has delivered an impressive 14 million CPU-hours to its users since the opening of the National Service in September 2005. Access to our facilities is granted on the basis of scientific merit, assessed through an independent peer-review process.

ICHEC is now widely recognised as a key component of the emerging national e-Infrastructure, and underpins the work of an increasing number of research groups across the country. As ICHEC intends to broaden its range of services through the provision of distributed data management and capability computing services in 2008, the strategic importance of ICHEC for the research community is becoming even more crucial.