High-Performance Computing

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Upgrades Network

• By Leila Meyer
• 04/24/15

The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) has implemented secure private network connections to eight colleges and universities.

The PSC operates a high-speed network hub called the Three Rivers Optical Exchange (3ROX) that connects numerous educational institutions to online research and educational services. The PSC has implemented a 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) from Comcast Business to provide eight members of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) with 1 Gbps links to the 3ROX.

The eight colleges and universities receiving the 1 Gbps links are Carlow University, Geneva College, Juniata College, La Roche College, Point Park University, Saint Francis University, Washington & Jefferson College and Westminster College. These institutions can use their high speed connections for general Internet access and to access research resources such as PSC's Data Supercell and its supercomputers through a shared network.

"The institutions we work with rely on us for three very important things: access to our state-of-the-art offsite data storage facility; use of our supercomputers for advanced mathematical computations, scientific modeling and large-scale data analysis; and high-speed, high-quality connectivity to the Internet," said Ken Goodwin, director of advanced networking at PSC, in a prepared statement. Goodwin added that the new service will "provide these schools with the same caliber of connectivity that you would expect of a major research institution at a price that can fit within a smaller institution's budget."

The PSC is a nonprofit collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The PSC provides researchers with high-performance computing, communications and data handling systems.