Coldest XServe RAID on the planet

Server rooms are generally chilly places, with high-powered air conditioning systems running at top speed to keep the big iron from melting. The installation team from the University of Wisconsin - Madison is not likely to have an AC problem with its latest Xserve RAID installs; the boxes are configured as part of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory being built at 90º South, otherwise known as the South Pole.

The "extreme astronomy" project -- using cubic miles of the Antarctic icecap as a handy, preconfigured pure water reservoir where possible neutrino collisions can be spotted and analyzed, with the entire mass of the Earth filtering out cosmic rays and other particles -- is going to be generating huge amounts of data when it comes completely online. One RAID will be used for scratch storage of that research data; the other will be used for backup.

Apple has made a strong push for Xserve and Xserve RAID in the research community, focusing on genomics and biochemistry among other disciplines. It's interesting to see astronomy projects purchasing Apple storage gear to add to the arsenal.

[via AlienRAID]

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Source: http://alienraid.org/article.php?story=icecuberaid

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Server rooms are generally chilly places, with high-powered air conditioning systems running at top speed to keep the big iron from...

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Matt

One of my Profs just got back from there, he didn't tell me they were using xserves. Hmm, going to have to question him about this.

January 22 2007 at 4:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jim

There was a movie which had a US Geological weather station similar to this ICE CUBE Station, it was called "THE THING"
Talk about being out there? I personally feel those XRAID's should have no problem.

January 22 2007 at 9:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jihn

It reminds me of inner space when they put him the back of the meat truck....maybe we should store server configurations at the bottom of the ocean where there is no light.

John
http://www.monomachines.com

January 22 2007 at 12:50 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Eliot

My mechanical measurements professor worked on this project. The used to do the measurements in mines, but switched to the arctic after developing hot water drills. The sensors in the cubic kilometer array detect the minute flashes of neutrino collisions. Neutrinos can pass through the earth so the detector picks up particles coming from the other side as well.

January 21 2007 at 5:00 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Pal

Ah, yes, them bloody neutrinos are hard to spot! Cool project :-)

January 21 2007 at 4:08 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply