Super computer arrives at STHS

1/08 tahoe mt.news

By Kathryn Reed

Pieces of what was once the world’s third largest computer are waiting to be assembled at South Tahoe High so students there and throughout the district can enter the realm of life beyond Microsoft and Apple.
“Initially we are considering a programming class to get it up and then use it for visual arts because it is a high-speed machine,” said Jerry Carter, STHS physics teacher and technology representative. “We could do some graphic animations on the level you see on TV and in the movies like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ As far as networking at the school, that would have to be off in the future.”
Dave Norton brought the beast to town last month from Lawrence Livermore Lab where it had been used in the nuclear laboratory since 2003. Norton, who does consulting work through his company High Performance Fortran Associates, was involved with developing this computer.
With kids in Lake Tahoe Unified, Norton wants them and their peers to have the opportunity to get their hands on technology that students in the Silicon Valley have access to and to realize a computer is more than a keyboard, screen and tower.
“I wanted to get the system so students and faculty could be exposed to scientific computing. The idea is to teach people that computers run operating systems besides Windows. This is a Linux based system,” Norton said.
The original computer had about 1,500 nodes that are essentially small servers. The district now owns 128 of them. Once assembled, they will be stored on a handful of racks that are 19 inches wide and 2 feet deep.
Most likely the machine will be ready for next school year. Part of the components are at the high school, part in a district warehouse. It needs 220 volts to run on as well as adequate cooling and ventilation.
It cost the district nothing. Maintenance will be an issue, but Norton foresees that being part of the learning process for kids and not a duty of district staff.
Curriculum involving the computer will depend on ability and desire of staff, Carter said.
Carter spent nine years in the computer business on mainframes. Cliff Smith, who is a second-year math teacher at STHS, used to work at Intel. Dave Mason teaches digital technology and Bob Grant is a Mac expert.
“We’re still in the discussion stage as to what exactly we are going to do with it and who is going to have access to it,” Carter said.
He predicts the science department will use it to solve problems related to vibration of sound, electromagnetic waves and nuclear radiation.
“A lot of it would be programming for kids to use as opposed to teacher or staff on the machines,” Carter said.
South Tahoe High hasn’t had a computer programming class since 1984 when Doug Sprague retired.
Norton has ties to people who predict the weather and believes the computer could be used for such calculations.
“Will they be better than what you get on weather.com? Probably not, but that’s not the point,” Norton said. “It would be really nice if the weather output would come for some of the kids at Sierra House to incorporate into their weather reports (on KRLT).”