The Extensible Terascale Facility (ETF), or "TeraGrid" involves nine resource providers (RP's) operating high-performance computing, information, and visualization facilities interconnected with a dedicated optical network and integrated with a set of common software that presents the user community with a cohesive set of resources and services. On October 1, 2004, the ETF will conclude a three-year construction effort to create this distributed environment and will transition into an operational state. This proposal outlines a set of services to be provided at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the TeraGrid system.
The ORNL RP's goal is to bring a new scientific community to the TeraGrid - Neutron Science, and to provide them with computing and data storage resources needed to make full use of next generation neutron sources. Neutron scattering provides a unique probe of the structure and dynamics of materials. It has found application in many fields, including nanoscience, polymer science, chemistry, soft condensed matter, biotechnology, biology, materials science, metallurgy, solid-state physics, semiconductor manufacturing, engineering, earth sciences, genomics, and proteomics. A next-generation neutron source, the $1.4 billion Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), is being built by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at ORNL. The SNS has an order of magnitude greater flux than any other facility in the world. Neutron scattering centers provide beam time on a peer-reviewed merit basis to researchers in all areas of science.
With over a thousand users a year, these facilities are national and international scientific resources. Recent facilities upgrades and the commissioning of SNS will greatly increase beam intensities and available beam time. Foreseeing the massive increase in data, the neutron-science community is discussing how to proceed. They recognize the need for new ways to manage data to optimize both beam time and scientific output. The ORNL RP effort focuses on bridging the Neutron Science (particularly the SNS) and Computational Science communities to provide transparent access to the massive TeraGrid computing and data storage resources. The ORNL RP is creating and will operate an enclave to make Neutron Science data streams and data stores available for reduction and analysis on TeraGrid resources and to facilitate the comparison of experimental data with computational simulation. The ORNL RP construction effort is building the network and computer systems infrastructure needed to access the SNS through the TeraGrid. The early operations effort will bring TeraGrid resources to Neutron Science users by operating the resources built during the ETF construction phase and continuing to develop the infrastructure to enable neutron scientists to use the TeraGrid to leverage their work. The ORNL RP effort is also exploring collaborative opportunities with other Neutron facilities in the US and internationally.
