Pawsey funding announcement is good news for ASKAP

Pawsey Supercomputing Centre will receive $70 million to procure a replacement for its flagship supercomputer, Magnus, as well as the real-time supercomputer, Galaxy. Both systems, are close to the end of their operational lives. Magnus, a Cray XC40, is considered to be one of the most advanced supercomputers in the southern hemisphere. Galaxy is dedicated to the operational requirements of the SKA pathfinder telescopes, ASKAP and MWA. Read more

Chair of the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, Mr John Langoulant AO, said this will strengthen Australia’s position in the global research environment and enable Australia to stay globally competitive. The procurement process for the capital refresh will commence immediately with the intention of new infrastructure being available from 2019.

What does this mean for ASKAP?

This will be a vast improvement on the power and processing capability of Galaxy. It will provide more disc space to store the data sets that are coming in from commissioning observations, which are getting bigger and bigger all the time, as more antennas come online.

ASKAP’s current data rates are in the order of about 1 terabyte per hour, that’s generated by observations using 12 of the 36 antennas. This number will increase to about 1.5 terabytes per hour in the coming weeks, when 18 antennas are in operation. The full data rate, when all 36 ASKAP antennas are operational, is more like 10 terabytes per hour. The data is processed on Galaxy, so this refresh will put us in a great position to maximise science from ASKAP as we get 36 antennas on line.

Information about Pawsey

Pawsey is a collaboration hub. The Centre currently serves more than 1,500 active researchers from across Australia, involved in more than 150 supercomputing projects to deliver scientific outcomes. Nine Australian Research Centres of Excellence benefit from Pawsey’s infrastructure and expertise.

This investment will enable Pawsey to continue to drive innovation and accelerate discoveries in medical science, engineering, geoscience, marine science, chemistry, food, agriculture and more.

Read the Pawsey press release about the new funding announcement here.

Read Prime Minister, Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Minister for Education joint media release here.

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