With CRESCO4 ENEA has quadrupled the computational power of its facilities for research and industry

With the commissioning of CRESCO4, ENEA has quadrupled its available computing power, and has allowed  to use a wide range of applications requiring a high computational capacity in sectors as materials science, climatology, molecular dynamics, computational fluid-dynamics, smart cities, nuclear fusion and fission, and aerospace. This is one of the elements highlighted in the workshop dedicated to the supercomputer, which was attended by many experts and representatives of companies and research institutions.

With its aggregate computational power of over 130 Teraflops, CRESCO system ranks almost on the very top of the national scenario,  and provides hundreds of ENEA and non-ENEA researchers with its computing power and services.

Very complex studies have been supported by the supercomputing skills of CRESCO4. To mention a few: the high-resolution reconstruction of the climatic variations in the Mediterranean Basin in the last 46 years; the dispersion of Iodine-131 following Fukushima’s nuclear accident; the optimization of combustion processes, developed with ENEA-created computational codes.

Approximately 30% of users are non-ENEA, from national and international universities (Rey Juan Carlos - Madrid, La Sapienza - Rome, Federico II - Naples, Universities of Florence and Salerno), research institutions (INFN - National Institute for Nuclear Physics) and industrial companies (Avio).

Located at the ENEA Portici Research Centre, CRESCO is a ‘network’ of 4 supercomputers, of which CRESCO4 represents generation IV with respect to the first machine installed in 2008. Overall, the system is equivalent to over 5000 computers interconnected into one single infrastructure.

In a sector characterized by a rapid obsolescence (typically three years), thanks to infrastructural projects like TELEGRID, CRESCO and TEDAT, the level of ENEA’s infrastructures and expertise continues to meet the national computational technology requirements more than adequately.

CRESCO4 has been developed within the framework of  project “TEDAT - Centro di Eccellenza per le Tecnologie e la Diagnostica Avanzata nel settore dei Trasporti”, financed  under the Italian National Operative Plan (PON) 2007-2013 of the European Regional Structural Funds.

For more information please contact:

Silvio Migliori, Head of ENEA’s Technical Unit for IT and ICT Systems Development,  silvio.migliori@enea.it