On 20 September 2019, on the first day of the 126th session of the JINR Scientific Council, a solemn opening of the first cluster of the NICA Computing Centre created in the Laboratory of High Energy Physics JINR took place after the discussion of the Long-term plan for the development of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

Development of the NICA mega-project is impossible without powerful computing systems as far as dozens of thousands of heavy-ion interactions per second will be registered in the conditions of highly dense and hot baryonic matter. One of the three clusters for data storage and analysis that consumes the power of 300 kilowatts has been created in the Laboratory of High Energy Physics.

Yuri Potrebnikov, Deputy Director of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics JINR: “It is a fairly large cluster. The key objective of computing in NICA is the collection of data, its processing, analysis and storage, as well as modelling and storage of modelled data. We suppose that the total volume of data that will be acquired at NICA will be 20 – 25 petabytes per year. We are currently conducting a stage-by-stage construction of the computing centre as far as computer resources are getting cheaper quite quickly and there is no sense to stock up with these resources. That is why the first cluster we are developing now has not large parameters. However, it includes 3 thousand cores and 7 petabytes of disc memory. It will be enough to provide the upcoming run in 2020 at the BM@N facility (the first facility launched in the NICA project) and to start work at the MPD facility during its technological launches. The next step will be the creation of the Centre, a cluster in the Laboratory of Information Technologies JINR. It will be aimed to store data. There will be a robot with the 40 petabytes of total data storage capacity. Moreover, 1000 – 2000 cores will be available for computing. We will gradually increase this number up to 5000 cores and 10 petabytes of data on discs. The main Centre will be created in the NICA Centre. Its project is supposed to be designed this year and the construction will be launched next year. There will be the most powerful centre where about 20 petabytes of disc memory and about 10 – 12 thousand cores will be placed. In total, there will be three off-line processing clusters. The central cluster will operate online. It will receive data from experimental facilities and distribute it among off-line clusters. What we have now done is the first stage.”

Victor Matveev, RAS Academician, Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research: “We are much improving in the development of the NICA complex. It is a complex project. In the beginning, we did not realize what modern solutions it would require, they did not yet exist. However, we are moving forward with the great support of the Member States and the Russian Federation, first of all.”