Los Alamos Double-Checks Wiring; Saves $2 Million
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) reports that a wiring diagram review saved $2 million in material and labor costs for the new Trinity supercomputer. A team led by LANL Data Center Manager Ron Velarde found a way to re-engineer Cray's original wiring diagram for the power feed to the computing racks.
The re-design, which was approved by Cray, uses prefabricated copper tray cable rather than fabricating 22,000 cables on site. The team also replaced the copper power cables with aluminum cables at some points, saving 20 percent in material costs.
Other institutions with Trinity-like systems are considering similar changes. See the LANL press release for additional information.
08/25/2016
