CISL Annual Report 2005 > Computing facility accomplishments

Computing facility: Advanced conceptual data center design

The 40-year-old Mesa Laboratory computing facility is straining to support modern computers. It was designed in an era of expensive, low-power computers. It persists in an era of inexpensive, high-power computers. The continuing demands of the science combined with trends in CMOS technology are rapidly making the facility obsolescent. Over the past 18 months, CISL completed NCAR's Analysis of Facility Needs for Future Computing and has recommended a plan of action:

• Act to maximize the life and capabilities of the Mesa Lab facility
• Move forward on building a data center expansion

Considerable action was taken to sustain the Mesa Lab facility. During the past year, an outside firm was contracted to complete a risk analysis. A number of risks were identified, and measures were taken to mitigate those risks. The chilled water cooling system was completely overhauled and upgraded to position the Mesa Lab to handle the expected heat load.

A conceptual design was completed to address the long-term needs of NCAR. The overall strategy encompasses building an expandable, flexible facility that can meet NCAR's needs for at least the next 20 years. The plan uses state-of-the-art design principles and anticipates higher heat densities leading to the eventual re-emergence of liquid-cooled equipment.

You can view an animated tour of the data center expansion in .mov format (10.8 MB).

Artist's rendering of NCAR's expandable, flexible data center that can support geosciences computing needs well into the future. Two phases of expansion are shown on both sides of the initial construction.