History

Years long effort to purchase a supercomputing system as well as high performance computing clusters, that would be connected into a computing grid resulted in the first meeting at the Slovak Ministry of Education, which took place on April 4, 2008. Analyses of supercomputer and computing cluster usage in research and development in all of Slovakia were discussed. The analyses were performed on demand by the ministry at the end of February 2008. The result of the first meeting was the creation of two work groups that would eventually create a plan to create HPC center/s in Slovakia as a part of the ESF national projects.

Both analyses were considered by the Ministry of Education experts and a second meeting took place on September 10, 2008. Two national project proposals were discussed: – National Supercomputer Center an Slovak Grid. The result was a single proposal to build Slovak infrastructure for HPC, that would contain both supercomputer and grid infrastructure.

Slovak Infrastructure for High Performance Computing (SIVVP) projects officially began, discussed and approved at a meeting in KC Smolenice on March 9 and 10, 2009.

SIVVP project was handed over to the Ministry of Education as a basis for the creation of a project financed by the Operational Programme Research and Development on March 19, 2009. SIVVP was published under the code OPVaV/K/RKZ/NP/2009-1 no May 28, 2009.

SIVVP project was officially approved by the minister of eduction on December 1, 2009 as an infrastructure project withen OPVaV with a budget of 25 965 000 EUR.

Hardware resources purchased from the SIVVP project budget is installed at all project partners. Computing systems are made available to the first users.

SAS Computing Center received "observer status" at the PRACE organization (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe). Other partners of PRACE include the largest and most prestigious supercomputer centers in Europe; SIVVP websites for user and user project registration and statistics and user results presentation created.

Second project phase: Aurel supercomputer and other SIVVP computing systems are expanded based on the experinces from the first phase of the SIVVP project; SAS Computing Center became a full member of PRACE organisation

New terms of use and project registration system implemented for the Aurel supercomter. User project commitee created.

End of the implemention period and final accounting of the SIVVP project. Beginning of the first year of the period of sustainability.

Aurel supercomputer terms of use adjustment: possibility of voluntary contributions for operation costs. Number of scientific articles mentioning Aurel in acknowledgments: 89