Forrestal will house new computer research center

Curt Hillegas, the director of TIGRESS, said that the systems will be moved from their current locations at 87 Prospect Ave. and Lewis Library to the new High-Performance Computing Research Center on the University’s Forrestal Campus in order to improve electrical and cooling capacity and improve efficiency.

The new facility, which will be roughly 40,000 square feet, is expected to support the University’s computing needs through 2017, according to the University’s website. But the facility has been designed so that its space could be doubled in the future.

“The undergraduate student body may not directly notice the change, but the increased capacity to continue growing the research computing program and the increased reliability of the University’s computing systems will be a big benefit,” Hillegas said. “People may not notice the benefits up front, but it will allow us to continue as leaders in the field of high-performance computing.”

John Ziegler, director of Off-Campus Development, explained that the planned data center would be more cost-effective and energy-efficient by incorporating new technology and consolidating computers into a single facility.

The University plans for the new facility to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System’s silver rating, which is the third-highest certification.

“As a data center stand-alone facility, it’s really challenging to meet that type of criteria because it can’t share energy with other facilities and by nature is very energy-intensive,” Ziegler explained.

Ziegler noted that, though the facility is expected to be ready for computers by the summer of 2011, the final project budget and plans for the relocation of the computers have not yet been established. There are no specific plans for the current spaces at 87 Prospect Ave. and Lewis Library, Hillegas added.

“We are working with the [Office of Information Technology (OIT)] to determine the optimum strategy for relocating the computers,” Ziegler said, noting that the goal is to consolidate many of the smaller server rooms around campus into the new facility over time.

The new computing research center will allow for potential partnering with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Donna Tatro, the Enterprise Infrastructure Services director for OIT, said in an e-mail that the goal of the move is to “meet the needs of the researchers as well as everyone else who relies on IT systems and services in the most flexible and cost-effective way possible,” adding that “I believe the new computing center design principles — the plan calls for an energy efficient, modular design with phased expansion if needed — will achieve that goal.”

The Office of the Vice President for Facilities and OIT are working together with several outside firms on the project.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the new facility will power the Geophyiscal Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory when, in fact, it will allow for potential partnering with these laboratories.