Rittal technology for crucial Big Bang research

The quest to unravel the origins of the universe gains momentum as the latest study of gravity waves looks set to date the so-called 'Big Bang' and provide answers to many age-old questions.

Rittal is fitting out the new purpose-built data centre at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany. It is the fourth fastest scientific data centre in the country, with computing capacity of one petabyte. It is to be used primarily to evaluate gravity waves, the existence of which had long ago been postulated by Albert Einstein. Measuring these waves, apparently, will enable scientists to date the Big Bang down to a second.

With the Atlas computer cluster, as it is called, it should now be possible to measure gravity waves for the first time ever. Rittal has equipped the high performance data centre with server enclosures and efficient cooling units, so providing the necessary infrastructure for state-of-art scientific research.

Although the presence of gravity waves - minute distortions of space time - had been predicted by Einstein, to date it has not been possible to prove their existence. The first ever measurement of the waves should allow scientists to gain an insight into the beginning of the universe. Up to now it had been possible to trace back the origin of the universe to an approximated minimum of 380 000 years after the Big Bang.

Previous measurements, however, were based on electromagnetic radiation, which did not go back in time 'far enough'. With gravity waves it is said to be possible to look back on the first picosecond of the life of the universe.

Alongside new revelations about the Big Bang, scientists hope to corroborate Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and launch the “Era of Gravity Wave Astronomy”.

“The Atlas Cluster is the world's largest resource for the analysis of gravity waves. It combines around 1 400 individual computers and its 1 petabyte plus capacity makes it roughly a quarter that of CERN, the world's largest scientific computer memory,” claims Professor Bruce Allen, Director of the Max Plank Institute.

The sophisticated research at the institute demands an extremely high degree of IT security, availability and intelligent climate control as well as a reduction in energy consumption. In order to achieve such high levels of performance density, a large number of servers have been placed on a small floor space - and at a high packing density.

Even and efficient cooling can still be assured by means of an appropriate infrastructure. Rittal server enclosures were used, which were closed and independently cooled across every unit height. The Rittal LCP Plus (Liquid Cooling Package) system ensures the continuous climate control of the individual computers, thus guaranteeing their smooth performance. High capacity heat exchanger modules provide for an even temperature distribution. In addition, Rittal's CMC-TC monitoring system supports extensive visual and alarm controlled monitoring.

Progressive and energy-efficient Rittal technologies provide an infrastructure that allows the viable acquisition of the latest scientific knowledge.