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Computer Center begins new chapter in city's history

Date: 11/21/2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

HOLYOKE — Although the computers are just starting to be installed at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC), education and elected officials praised the center for its potential at its official opening on Nov. 16.

The $95 million center is a collaboration between the Commonwealth and Boston University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) as well as Cisco Systems and the EMC Corporation.

Dr. Sudan Hockfield, president emerita of MIT, explained at the opening ceremonies the idea for the center came out of a dinner she had in January 2009 with Jack Wilson, the former president of UMass. She called the concept of institutes of higher learning in the Commonwealth banding together for a project such as this one as "a huge, unrealistic, crazy idea."

She advised the audience, with a smile, to be careful to whom they share an idea and credited Wilson with making the center a reality.

Mayor Alex Morse noted the collaboration included Gov. Deval Patrick, Congressmen John Olver and Richard Neal, and former mayors Elaine Pluta and Michael Sullivan. Morse said MGHPCC showed that Holyoke could handle the permitting of such a large project and the construction of the center has "changed the perception of the city of Holyoke."

Morse said the next large project would be the construction of a new train station not far from the MGHPCC. The city recently received a $2 million MassWorks grant from the state to fund the passenger platform that will be used by the high speed Amtrak service that is currently being constructed.

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray noted that of the 400 construction workers employed by the job, about half were from Hampden County and more than 50 were from Hampshire County. A total of $16.6 million went to 12 local subcontractors or consultants.

At a press tour conducted several days before the official opening, MGHPCC Executive Director John Goodhue explained that "if we're doing our jobs right" for the researchers using the center's computers, they will have no idea if the machines are located down the hall or across the state.

Goodhue said the building has three basic functions: bringing in electricity to power the computers, disposing of the heat the computers cause and transporting information in and out of the building.

On the second floor, there are rows of what initially appear to be lockers. Those are where the computers will go and the initial number will be 10,000 units. Goodhue said there is room for another 10,000 in the president building and there are plans to enlarge the facility to allow for thousands of more computers in the future.

Installing the initial computers will take months, he added. Filling the center to present capacity will take five to 10 years.

Using the latest in green technology, the center will feature a cooling system unique to other such centers.

"It's quite common to spend more money on cooling [the computers] than on computing not too long ago," Goodhue said.

While some centers use 900 watts of electricity to cool a computer for one kilowatt of computing, this center used 200 watts of electricity for one kilowatt of computing.

Goodhue said that besides academic researchers on their own campuses using the power of the computing center to research problems, there is also part of the center dubbed "the sandbox" where new technology can be brought in for testing and development.

Members of the Morse Administration have said in the past the MGHPCC should spur renewed economic development in the city, something Patrick alluded to in his remarks at the opening ceremony.

Patrick said the challenge is to "bring the spirit of what is happening inside that building outside."

He added, "Holyoke's best days lie ahead."