E-mail:cyfronet@cyfronet.krakow.pl

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The Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET AGH, established over 30 years ago, is an autonomous organizational and financial entity of the AGH University of Science and Technology. The Centre currently employs around 60 people and incorporates the following departments: High-Performance Computing Department, Software Department, Computer Networks Department, Storage & Security Data Department, Technical Department, Administration Department, Financial and Accounting Department and the Operators Section; furthermore it includes the European Cooperation Group and the Research and Development Group.

ACC CYFRONET AGH is one of the largest Polish supercomputing and networking centres, and its mission is to:

1. Providing computing power and other computing-related services to research teams and educational institutions;
2. Developing, maintaining and extending its computing infrastructure;
3. Furthering the goals and programs enacted by the Polish government, as set forth by the Committee for Scientific Research in the area of applying new information technologies for science, education, management and business.
4. Conducting scientific research (in collaboration with other academic units) into the application of high-performance computers, computer networks and information services;
5. Conducting research, analyses and implementations of new technologies aiding the design, creation and maintenance of computer infrastructures;
6. Providing consulting services and training courses in the area of information technology, computer networks, high-performance computing and information services;
7. Identifying, evaluating and promoting new solutions for science, education, management and business;
8. Providing computing power and other services to other entities, not mentioned in item 1, in accordance with existing permissions and contracts, as long as this doesn't conflict with any of the other goals of the Centre, detailed in items 1-7.

ACC CYFRONET AGH includes an advisory body called the Centre Users Council, convened by the Rector of the AGH in collaboration with the Cracow University Rectors' College members and operating in accordance with the rules established thereby (confirmed by the Rector of the AGH).

Of key importance to ACC CYFRONET AGH are issues related to computer networks. CYFRONET is recognized by the Committee for Scientific Research as a center of excellence for the purposes of development and maintenance of the Cracow Metropolitan Area Network.

Currently the Cracow MAN operates its own dedicated fiber-optic links which total nearly 90 km in length. The core network of the Cracow MAN is located in the Old Town area but the network also covers the academic campus near Reymonta st. as well as the outlying districts of Bronowice, Krowodrza, Czyżyny and Nowa Huta. Recent expansion of the network included distant research centers in Prokocim, Borek Fałęcki and the new 3rd campus of the Jagiellonian University in Pychowice.

All ATM devices in use are compliant with OC12/STM4 and OC3/STM1 standards, enabling data transfer rates of 622Mbps and 155Mbps respectively.

Each of the backbone network switches is connected to at least two (sometimes three) neighbors and the network utilizes a dynamic PNNI (Private Network-Network Interface) routing protocol for automatic and transparent recovery in case of a failure of any network device or link.

The Cracow MAN is directly connected with the Upper Silesia and Warsaw regions via 10Gb/s PIONIER links and operates a backup 1Gb/s link to the city of Rzeszów. The PIONIER network enables communication with major national and foreign computing centers. International connectivity is provided through the GEANT scientific network.

In addition to the GEANT network, the Centre is also connected to the Sprint backbone via a 200Mb/s backup link. The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) enables automatic traffic switching should one of the Centre's international links fail.

The Cracow MAN provides the basis for the VTLS integrated library system used by 13 universities and research institutions in Cracow (the so-called Cracow Library Complex). The library management system is installed on one of the Centre's servers.

The Cracow MAN enables remote access to high-performance computers installed at ACC CYFRONET AGH and to various peripherals connected via its Local Area Network.

ACC CYFRONET AGH currently operates several high-performance computers.

One of the aims of CYFRONET is to provide the scientific community with a means of storing and manipulating large quantities of data. Since 2005 the Centre has operated a new storage infrastructure, organized as a SAN (Storage Area Network). The key components of this infrastructure are explained here.

The Centre provides advanced system and user software. Collaborating researchers have access to an ever-expanding trove of software (often based on parallelized algorithms), which includes: current versions of all major operating systems, compilers, preprocessors, support software, Message Passing libraries, parallel programming tools, numerical libraries and packages, image processing and data visualization software, general-purpose applications, chemical applications, CAD/CAM systems, fluid dynamics modeling software, data processing systems (including Geographical Information Systems) and databases.

Of particular note is the very high degree of resource utilization at ACC CYFRONET AGH. The key users of CYFRONET resources (besides the University of Science and Technology) are various universities in the metropolitan area of Cracow. The Centre also provides services for institutions located outside of Cracow. As mandated by the Committee for Scientific Research, scientific research teams are able to utilize CYFRONET resources free of charge.

Integrating the Cracow scientific community and carrying out policy-related tasks with respect to identifying, researching, promoting and applying information technologies for science, education, management and business has always been a primary aim of ACC CYFRONET AGH. The Centre plays an important role in spreading knowledge on information technologies through consulting activities, training courses, publications, computing seminars and shaping the curricula of Cracow universities. Furthermore, the Centre participates in a number of scientific research projects, both domestic and international, and takes an active part in related scientific conferences.

ACC CYFRONET AGH actively engages in international collaboration. Members of CYFRONET staff participate in numerous standardization and organizational bodies in the area of information technologies. In the 1994-2005 period CYFRONET organized 18 international conferences devoted to various aspects of computer science. The Centre has also initiated a series of conferences called the Cracow Grid Workshops, held yearly since 2001.

CYFRONET has existed for over 30 years. It was first established in 1973, as a result of a joint initiative of the Cracow research community, under the name of Community Computational Centre "CYFRONET" (a special unit of the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Technology). This proved to be a very fruitful move as the Centre has since contributed to introducing computer technologies to a wide array of academic undertakings and projects. For many years the only scientific computing center in Poland, CYFRONET has since developed into a large-scale IT institution, playing an important part in shaping the future of computerization in various branches of Polish science, administration and economy.