Stanford Opens New Energy-Efficient Research Computing Center

Stanford University has opened the Stanford Research Computing Center (SRCC) to serve the computational needs of researchers through an energy-efficient shared facility.

The SRCC is located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and has the capacity to house 180 refrigerator-sized racks of servers. Initially, the university has purchased 125 servers to be used as a shared computational resource for researchers throughout the university. The facility can support 3 megawatts of computing power, one third of which will go to the School of Medicine, one third to the SLAC and the remainder to other Stanford researchers.

The SRCC is designed to be energy efficient. Typically, it requires considerable power to keep so many servers cool enough to prevent overheating. However, the SRCC is using an entirely air-driven cooling system to maintain a 60-to-80 degree environment, potentially saving as much as $1 million a year in cooling costs, according to Ann Arvin, vice provost and dean of research at Stanford.

The cooling system draws in outside air through the roof. The relatively cool air then passes through industrial-sized fans to the server room, where "back-to-back rows of servers optimized for efficient airflow take the cool air in through their front, then send heated air out into a sealed alleyway between rows," which opens to an outlet in the building's roof, according to the university.

When the outside air temperature dips below 60 degrees, the system uses some of its heated air to raise the temperature of the incoming air, and "on hot days, cold water chills the air before it flows over the equipment."

The SRCC will provide a communal computing resource for the university's researchers, and co-locating the servers can provide more computing power than the same number of servers scattered throughout the university because computing resources can be re-allocated when not in use rather than sitting idle. And because the campus is connected by a high-speed network, physical distance from the SRCC won't slow computation speed.

According to the university, "computation is playing a growing role in faculty research." The SRCC will support a wide variety of research projects, including "understanding the origins of stars, studying how human populations evolve, modeling climate change, efficiently delivering energy, making jet travel more efficient, solving the mysteries of the brain, constructing models of the molecules that make up our bodies and mining the secrets contained in our DNA."

Further information about the SRCC can be found on Stanford's site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • cybersecurity analyst in a modern operations center monitors multiple digital screens showing padlock icons, graphs, and a global map with security markers

    Louisiana State University Doubles Down on Larger Student-Run SOC

    In an effort to provide students with increased access to real-world cybersecurity experience, Louisiana State University has expanded its relationship with cybersecurity solutions provider TekStream to launch TigerSOC, a new student-run security operations center.

  • flowing lines and geometric shapes representing data flow and analysis

    Complete College America Launches Center to Boost Data-Driven Student Success Strategies

    National nonprofit Complete College America (CCA) recently launched the Center for Leadership, Institutional Metrics, and Best Practices (CLIMB), with the goal of helping higher education institutions use data-driven strategies to improve student outcomes.

  • geometric pattern features abstract icons of a dollar sign, graduation cap, and document

    Maricopa Community Colleges Adopts Platform to Combat Student Application Fraud

    In an effort to secure its admissions and financial processes, Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with A.M. Simpkins and Associates (AMSA) to implement the company's S.A.F.E (Student Application Fraudulent Examination) across the district's 10 institutions.