CUNY Master Plan 2012-2016

MISSION PART ONE
one of the most important technical fields of the 21st century because it is essential to advances
throughout society.”
The IHPCC’s activities and capabilities continue to expand rapidly as its resources are integrated into
research and courses across CUNY. With external funding, the computational capability has increased
by more than a factor of 10 since the Center was initially established. Those resources are now oversubscribed.
To accommodate the ever-expanding growth in usage, the computational capability of the Center
will be doubled by September 2012—a twentyfold increase in the past four years. We expect user
requirements and the computational capability to expand again by a factor of 20 in the next four years
as the Advanced Science Research Center and the Center for Urban Science and Progress develop. The
IHPCC currently supports approximately 400 active researchers. This number is expected to increase
to more than 1,200 by the end of the four-year planning cycle in 2016 when the IHPCC is relocated to
the new Interdisciplinary High Performance Computing Building at the College of Staten Island.
Contemporary computational research requirements in “Big Data” are driving a need for enhanced
data storage, retrieval, dissemination, and archiving. This was clearly illustrated by the March 29, 2012,
White House announcement of a $200 million, multi-agency investment in the “Big Data Research and
Development Initiative.” In recognition of “Big Data” needs, CSI, in a coordinated effort by the IHPCC
with researchers from CCNY, Hunter, Baruch, and the Graduate Center, was awarded $1.3 million from
NSF for a multi-petabyte data storage facility, which is scheduled for installation at the IHPCC in 2012
and 2013. This facility will support researchers across CUNY in Environmental Sciences, Macromolecular
Assemblies, Economics, Transportation Systems, Urban Analytics, Neuroscience, Phylogenetics, and
other interdisciplinary research projects. We expect that the CUNY “Big Data” research requirements
for data storage will increase by a factor of ten by the end of 2016.
The ASRC as well as CUNY research centers with “Big Data” requirements, particularly those in the
Environmental Sciences, Economics, and Phylogenetics, require fast, high-capacity data transfer speeds
between research equipment and the IHPCC for data storage and computational analysis. To accomplish
this, CSI will spearhead collaboration through the IHPCC with CCNY and CUNY CIS, to establish a dedicated
“Big Data” network prototype for optimal flow of scientific data, what is essentially a “Science
DMZ.” This is a term coined by the Department of Energy for its ESnet, a concept that has since been
adopted by NSF. The Science DMZ essentially removes large, bulk research data transfers from campus
networks (thus relieving the burden on those networks) and puts them on point-to-point, dedicated,
secure networks, optimized for high-speed flow of bulk data. The IHPCC will implement a Science DMZ
for “Big Data” to support the ASRC and other CUNY research centers in this proposed Master Plan.
In addition to the fast-paced research agenda, the IHPCC supports classes given at the Graduate Center,
the College of Staten Island, Medgar Evers College, NYCCT, and Brooklyn College. We expect that
the number of classes supported will grow substantially, and that every institution in the University will
use the IHPCC in classes by the end of the next four years.
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