Justification
To carry out its research activity, LNEC uses several models that demand high-computing performance and storage. Data processing and data mining are also high demanding in computing performance and storage.

Paralell and distributed programming coupled with high-computing performance systems are deemed to provide the required computing capacities in a number of scientific and technological fields. This is the rationale for the FCT to fund the installaton of the National High-Computing Performance Network.
The system to implement will be composed of several hundreds of nodes with double or four-processor machines, several nodes for control and integration and high-storage solutions.

In its first stage, the folowing four research institutes and universities are to be linked: Instituto de Engenharia Mecânica – Pólo Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (IDMEC-FEUP), Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC) e Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica da Universidade do Minho (UM).



System components
Each system includes the following components:

• 67 compute (slave) nodes
• 2 master nodes
• grid middleware
• data storage system
• 2 rack mount cabinets
• network layer (storage interconnect and network interconnect)
• hardware and software management system.

Participants
Maria Alzira Santos, Principal Research Officer (LNEC)
João Palha Fernandes, Research Assistant (LNEC)