Left 2 right:Research Computing Services manager Dr Chris Rudge and systems architects Gary Gilchrist,  Liam Gretton, Stuart Poulton and Dr Jon Wakelin.

Researchers will use the high-performance computer for questions ranging from the effects of different government policies on the financial markets to the future of our galaxy.

Supplied by Hewlett-Packard (now setting to work with Korean chip maker Hynix on the new memristor memory chips -  grist for ALICE's number milling successor!) offers masssive computational power, clustering large numbers of central processing units, making it possible to analyse bigger data sets, quicker  and find answers to more and different kinds of questions.

The ALICE system, says senior project manager of IT Services at the University Computer Centre, David Carter comprises 256 HP server nodes, Intel Nehalem processors andVoltaire QDR Infiniband interconnect. It has Panasas storage, Bright Cluster Manager  software and Adaptive Computing MOAB cluster suite as well as Intel Cluster Toolkit compiler edition and Redhat/Scientific Linux OS.

"The solution is based on the industry leading HP c-class blade system," adds Carter, noting, "This particular architecture forms almost one third of the entries in the current Top 500 list. It enables a higher level of hardware management, benefits in power and cooling and offers a far neater and more serviceable solution than standard rackmount systems."

The new Leicester computer room will, for the first time, use an advanced water-cooling system, not dissimilar from a glorified car radiator.

An existing computer room completely redesigned was re-equipped to accommodate the new  Ecofris  cooling technology, supplied by West Sussex based Keysource Ltd. It is the first installation of this technology in academia or any small to medium sized data centre.

Yearly, the system should save an estimated £130,000 andreduce CO2 emissions by 800t compared to previous replaced technology. Keysource plans to enter the facility in an international competition to identify the most efficient small data centre in Europe.

Researchers in Leicester’s Physics and Astronomy, Engineering and Economics departments have been piloting the computer, but after its launch this month it will become freely available to any University researcher.

Mary Visser, (right) director of IT services at the university, said: “It’s fascinating to see how researchers work these days – looking for patterns in huge datasets and simulating complex phenomena.

“Usually, you need to be a real techie to engage with this kind of work.  But we have social scientists and economists with big problems to solve who didn’t sign up to be computer programmers. Our team aims to help make the facility accessible for them, too.

She adds: “The amount of data produced is going up by around 50% a year, so we need to get much cleverer about how we manage it, make it searchable, and decide what to keep for the next generation. That is a massive challenge for the whole sector – one that calls for new kinds of support and training for researchers at every stage of their careers.”