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The Center for Computational Statistics is fundamentally a research organization that focuses on the blending of computing, statistical theory and practice into an integrated framework. Because computation plays such a central role in the research program, special care has been taken to develop outstanding computational facilities. These facilities are organized into four research laboratories and are closely allied to several instructional facilities supported by both the School of Information Technology and Engineering and the Institute for Computational Sciences and Informatics. This page is intended to describe the capabilities of the research laboratories as well as to give some pointers into the use of the equipment.
The Center supports several major multi-user computing systems. In addition, there are a large number of more modest machines. The multi-user platforms all run Unix, Linux, or Windows 2000 operating systems with NFS and yellow pages so that accounts run across the local domain. The local domain contains more than 2 terabytes of hard disk storage. The Center machines are configured in this local domain which is known as galaxy (also aliased as stat). Galaxy is accessible through the internet via the gmu.edu domain.
Machines of interest include Silicon Graphics Onyx RE2, Silicon Graphics Onyx II with Infinite Reality Engine, several 2 gigahertz PCs running Linux with more than 1.6 terabytes storage. Also we own an Intel Paragon XP/S A4 - The Paragon is the most recent generation of Intel concurrent computer. This machine has 61 nodes, 56 of the 61 nodes are compute nodes, the others being service and i/o nodes. Each node contains two Intel 860 RISC processors running at 50 megahertz. Each node also has 16 megabytes of RAM (976 megabytes RAM total) and a hard disk capacity of 12 gigabytes (RAID level three).
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There is a wide variety of application and development software
installed on the Center machines. We have made a careful effort to
install software that will be useful and relevant to the computational
aspects of the research effort in computational statistics.
There are four research laboratories associated with the Center;
listed below in the order of access restrictions (first being the most
restricted, last being the least restricted of the labs); 1) the
Supercomputer Facility (Room 106, S & T I), 2) the Virtual Reality
Laboratory (also known as the Holodeck, Room 142, S & T II), 3) the High
Performance Computing Laboratory (Room 150, S & T II), and 4) the Graduate
Statistics Research Laboratory (Room 148, S & T II). These facilities
will be discussed in order.
The Supercomputer Facility is shared
between the Center for Computational Statistics and the School of
Computational Sciences (SCS). The Facility houses a number of servers including a Silicon
Graphics Challenge server with some 12 gigabytes of hard disk capacity, which
serves CSI, a SUN server which serves the Mathematical Sciences Department,
and a Silicon Graphics Origin 2000 8-node symmetric multiprocessor which provides
computational resources to the computational fluid dynamics effort within CSI
as well as to CSI as a whole. The Challenge server is the file
server for the entire instructional and research subnet of CSI. Users
can easily get accounts on the supercomputer machines. There is very
little reason for users to have physical access to these facilities as
all machines can be accessed through the network. However, should access
be required for special reasons, arrangements can be made. The retail
value of equipment installed in the Supercomputer Facility is more than
$2,000,000.
The Supercomputer Facility is intended to be an ultra reliable
facility. The room is equipped with an independent air conditioning
system which holds the temperature to a controlled humidity 68 degrees F. The
computers are attached to an UPS which supplies power to the computers
as well as to the air conditioning system. The UPS will operate for
approximately 2 hours at current loading in the event of power failure.
However, there is a separate diesel-fueled generator which powers on
within approximately 30 seconds of power failure. The generator will
run for approximately 16 hours. Thus, the system will remain functional
in spite of power outages and unreliable power. Critical computations
already running in the event of power failure can be expected to run
to completion. However, the network electronics elsewhere in the building
are subject to failure during power outages, so that communication via
ethernet may not be possible.
The Virtual Reality
Laboratory located in 142 S & T II is a limited access facility also.
However, qualified faculty and students may be granted independent access.
This facility is intended as a research facility. Computer resources
include five of our Silicon Graphics machines. There is a Stereographics high resolution
projection system. The projection system supports 1280 by 1024 images
projected to a 15 foot diagonal images. The projector supports 120 frames
per second and will operate in a stereoscopic mode. We use the
Stereographics Crystal Eyes technology to view stereo images. The
projection system is equipped with a long-range infrared emitter to
activate the Crystal Eyes glasses. There are two additional emitters
so that the Crystal Eyes glasses may also be used with the 19-inch monitors.
We also support a Tektronix 19 inch stereo monitor which uses passive
polarized glasses to achieve the stereoscopic effect. One of the Onyxes is also
equipped with a six-degree-of-freedom Spaceball, an input device to
replace a mouse. We also support a Logitech 3-D mouse.
The laboratory also is equipped with three Virtual Research head-
mounted displays. These helmet systems support stereo visual display at a
resolution of 640x400 pixels for each eye. The Virtual Research helmets
also have binaural headphones. The position sensing is done either by an Ascension
Technology "Flock-of-Birds" six degree-of-freedom magnetic sensor or by a
Polhemus six degree-of-freedom magnetic sensor. For each of these units, two
sensors are available, one for head position, the other for hand position.
The High Performance
Computing Laboratory is located in Room 150, S & T II. This laboratory
contains a number useful capabilities including high performance laser printers, color laser printers, and large scale inkjet printers.
The Center also maintains a rather extensive library of journals
and periodicals in the areas of statistics, computing, engineering and
general science. Many of these are bound and we have some unusually complete
records. For example, the Journal of the American Statistical Association
is complete back to 1950 and has complete volumes as far back as 1890.
Technometrics, Annals of Statistics, Annals of Probability, the Interface
Proceedings and others have complete runs also. Below is a partial list
of available journals.
The software may not be available on all machines due to
licensing restrictions. If an investigator has interest in a specific
piece of software, contact the Director to determine where the software
is installed. The Center adheres to a policy of use of software within
the framework of licensing agreements. Center-owned software may not be
copied for use on personal machines. For further information contact the
Center Director or Associate Director. The Center's Director is
Edward J. Wegman and the Center's Associate Director is Daniel B. Carr.
Ph: (703) 993-1691,
Software
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The Supercomputer Facility
The Virtual Reality Laboratory (Holodeck)
The High Performance Computing Laboratory
Fax: (703) 993-1700,
Grants Administrator: (703) 993-1680.
Email: compstat@galaxy.gmu.edu
Center for Computational Statistics
George Mason University, NS 4A7
157 Science-Technology II
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444