National Computational Infrastructure

National Computational Infrastructure
Nick-D · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	National Computational Infrastructure
Formation	1987
Headquarters	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Region served	Australia
Leader title	Director
Parent organization	Australian Research Data Commons

National Computational Infrastructure is an Australian high-performance computing service and research infrastructure center located in Canberra. It supports computational research for universities, research institutes, and industry by providing supercomputing, data storage, and cloud platforms. The organization underpins projects across climate science, bioinformatics, astrophysics, and engineering through partnerships with national and international institutions.

Overview

The facility operates a flagship supercomputer and coordinated storage that enable projects from the CSIRO to the Australian National University. It provides resources for initiatives linked with the Australian Research Council, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and the Bureau of Meteorology. NCI collaborates with international partners including the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the European Space Agency. The center supports workflows used by researchers connected to the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the Monash University, and the University of Queensland.

History and Development

The inception followed recommendations by panels including the Australian Research Council advisory groups and the Australian Academy of Science committees in the late 20th century. Early computing projects involved collaborations with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Australian National University physics departments. Growth accelerated with funding from the Australian Government and infrastructural partnerships with the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities and the AuScope geoscience initiative. Upgrades have paralleled technology roadmaps influenced by vendors such as IBM, Dell Technologies, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Facilities and Infrastructure

Primary data centers are located on campuses associated with the Australian National University and national research precincts in the Australian Capital Territory. Hardware generations included clusters provided by Cray Inc., accelerators from NVIDIA, and storage arrays by NetApp. Networking connects to the national research and education network operated by AARNET and links to global research networks such as GEANT and the Internet2 consortium. Cooling and power systems incorporate engineering standards promulgated by bodies including the Standards Australia committees.

Services and Resources

Services include batch and interactive high-performance computing, cloud compute offered in partnership with OpenStack deployments, and data management aligned with frameworks from the Australian Research Data Commons. NCI provides science gateways used by communities associated with the Australian Antarctic Division, the Bureau of Meteorology, and the CSIRO divisions. Software stacks support packages maintained by the Python Software Foundation ecosystems, the R Foundation for Statistical Computing, and domain tools such as GROMACS, WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting Model), and LAMMPS. Training and user support programs coordinate with the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute and the National Computational Science Institute.

Research and Collaborations

Research utilizing the center spans collaborations with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation climate teams, astrophysics groups at the Australian National University, and genomics consortia at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. International scientific partnerships include projects with the European Southern Observatory, the Square Kilometre Array Organisation, and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. Multidisciplinary initiatives link to the Griffith University environmental research, the University of Tasmania Antarctic programs, and the University of New South Wales engineering simulations. Collaborative funding and programmatic links exist with the National Institutes of Health, the European Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust for biomedical computation.

Governance and Funding

Governance involves oversight from boards with representatives from tertiary institutions such as the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia, and the University of Technology Sydney. Funding streams have included competitive grants from the Australian Research Council's National Competitive Grants Program, capital investments from the Australian Government's science budgets, and infrastructure grants coordinated with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Partnerships with industry fund technology procurements, involving firms like Intel Corporation, AMD, and Cisco Systems.

Impact and Applications

The computational resources have supported studies informing policy at the Bureau of Meteorology and environmental assessments for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Scientific outputs include publications in journals associated with the Royal Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the Nature Portfolio. Applications span modeling for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports, simulations for the Square Kilometre Array construction planning, and analyses used by the Australian Health Department in epidemiological modeling. The center also supports training programs linked to the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and workforce development initiatives with national universities.

Category:Research infrastructure in Australia Category:Supercomputer sites