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Statewide Consortium Announces $100 Million Green Computing Center in Western Massachusetts
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently announced plans to develop a $100 million high-performance computing center powered by clean and renewable energy in the small city of Holyoke. The center will be managed by a consortium of state agencies, universities and technology companies including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts, Cisco Systems and EMC Corp.. Universities and high-tech businesses will be able to access the center's resources, which local leaders hope could boost the local high-tech economy.
Most publicly-owned U.S. supercomputers are housed at research institutions and large metropolitan areas. The TOP500 list, a compilation of the top 500 high-performance systems around the world ranked by computing power, is dominated by systems at federal and military research facilities, private companies, national labs or research universities. The Holyoke center however, will be located off-campus in the less-populated western half of the state. Holyoke itself is one of the most economically challenged cities in the state with nearly a third of its population living below the poverty line, according to an article on the announcement in The Boston Globe. Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan applauded the announcement as a "game-changer" and an opportunity for the city to re-invent itself as a high-tech center. The center is being proposed as a central element in creating an innovation district in the Pioneer Valley region that would involve participants from government, private industry and higher education. One key ingredient in the region's effort to develop its innovation economy, and one that has been given the spotlight in the recent announcement, is the availability of renewable energy from nearby wind and hydroelectric sources. High-performance computing is an energy-intensive endeavor, requiring power for processing and cooling. These demands can lead to decreased reliability, since these systems place an extra burden on their electrical system and are more susceptible to power failure. High power consumption also increases the long-term cost of maintaining supercomputing centers. The energy demands of supercomputers are so high that a second list of green supercomputers, the Green500, is being published to draw attention to the most powerful and environmentally-friendly systems. By launching a green high-performance computing center, the Holyoke initiative has been able to attract additional attention to the center and to the region in general as a location for energy-conscious innovation. Read more about the Holyoke High-Performance Computer Center at: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3pressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov3&b=pressrelease&f=090611_holyoke&csid=Agov3