NCAR, Juniper help government plan for future environmental impacts

Juniper Networks has been selected by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to provide the networking infrastructure for a new supercomputer that will be used by researchers to predict climate patterns and assess the effects of global warming.

“The new supercomputer is expected to benchmark among the top supercomputers in the world. The network will allow scientists around the world to access resources and foster a community of global collaboration, said Al Kellie, Associate Director, NCAR, Computational and Information Systems laboratory.

The new supercomputer will be installed at the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) this fall and will be fully operational in 2017. This new system will enable more accurate and actionable projections about the impact of weather and climate change and is expected to perform 5.34 quadrillion calculations per second, making it one of the top performing supercomputers in the world. Juniper Networks was selected to provide the system’s networking infrastructure, allowing scientists around the world access to this critical climate and weather research tool.

A critical research tool: NCAR’s supercomputer system will allow scientists to perform some of the world’s most data intensive calculations for weather and climate modeling, providing information that can profoundly impact communities by helping to improve computer models in ways that can better inform future evacuation efforts or aid in the dispatch of recovery teams. It will also be an integral tool to study the effects of global warming, helping governments and communities plan for future changes in water cycles, temperatures and sea levels, among other environmental impacts.

A high performance network that supports global collaboration: NCAR’s new supercomputer network, supported by Juniper Networks, is designed to meet the demanding capacity and bandwidth required by researchers to process climate data and conduct predictive weather analysis, while sharing results with colleagues around the world.

A high-density, highly scalable solution: The Juniper Networks QFX10008 Switch, a high-performance, high-density switch that offers unprecedented network scale and automation, will allow remote users around the country and the world to access this new supercomputer and the upgraded NCAR Globally Accessible Data Environment (GLADE). The QFX10008 is a foundational element of the Juniper Networks MetaFabric Architecture, an open-standards-based architecture that allows simple and scalable migration to next-generation data centers, and is the latest solution chosen by EX Series Ethernet Switches, QFX Series Nodes and MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers.

Some of the world’s largest research and education networks are built on Juniper technology: This project builds on Juniper Networks’ expertise in supporting global research and education networks.

“As chair of the Advisory Board for the Community Earth System Model, I can't emphasize enough the importance of remote access to the NWSC. This access enables scientists at institutions widely dispersed geographically to access state-of-the art computational, modeling and analysis tools essential for advancing our knowledge and predictive skills in weather and climate. The NCAR supercomputing infrastructure is integral to the success of our national program in climate research, commented Dr. Leo Donner, Physical Scientist, GFDL/NOAA and Lecturer, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University.

“We’re thrilled that NCAR turned to Juniper Networks to meet its most demanding challenge yet. Juniper is proud to support the creation of a state-of-the-art supercomputing platform that will allow scientists and researchers to study the impact of climate and weather on the world’s populations and environments," said Tim Solms, Vice President of US Federal Sales, Juniper Networks.