Cornell Theory Center

The Cornell Theory Center (CTC) is Cornell's high-performance computing and interdisciplinary research center. CTC's main technical research and development thrust is in large-scale
Windows 2000-based cluster computing. Through its Advanced Cluster Computing Consortium (AC3), CTC acquired a 256-processor cluster --AC3 Velocity --that consists of 64 Dell PowerEdge servers, each with four Intel Pentium III Xeon 500 mhz processors and running Microsoft Windows 2000. The primary cluster interconnect is provided by Giganet, Inc. Cornell is one of the leading institutions for computational science and engineering in the country, due in large part to the resources and expertise available at CTC. 

Researchers associated with CTC work in some of the most computationally challenging fields. CTC acquired a second cluster, Velocity+, which consists of 64 Dell dual PowerEdge servers and is dedicated to the strategic applications of protein folding/structural biology and multiscale
materials modeling, both of which require huge amounts of computing resources. 

Additional interdisciplinary research focus areas include: Computational Finance -- projects such as investigating new optimization algorithms for large-scale portfolio analysis and value-at-risk
calculations. Computational Genomics -- development of highly advanced tools for large-scale data acquisition and analysis to understand the origins of life and the molecular processes that
underlie life. 

These projects also benefit from CTC's extensive visualization expertise and resources, including a three-wall CAVE virtual reality environment, where scientists can "immerse"  themselves in their application. CTC is an integral part of Cornell's new Computing and Information Sciences
initiative, and is active in attracting new communities, such as business, the arts, and the social sciences, to advanced computing and information  technologies. CTC works closely with
its AC3 infrastructure members, including Dell Computer Corporation, Intel Corporation, Microsoft
Corporation, and Giganet, Inc., and with a range of corporations interested in implementing state-of-the-art cluster environments and in having a strategicwindow into future technologies.