A Specialized, Multi-User Computer Facility for the High-Speed, Interactive Processing of Experimental Data

A proposal has been made at LBL to develop a specialized computer facility specifically designed to deal with the problems associated with the reduction and analysis of experimental data. Such a facility would provide a highly interactive, graphics oriented, multi-user environment capable of handling relatively large data bases for each user. By conceptually separating the general problem of data analysis into two parts, cyclic batch calculations and real-time interaction, a multi-level, parallel processing framework may be used to achieve high-speed data processing. In principle such a system should be able to process a mag tape equivalent of data through typical transformations and correlations, in under 30 sec. The throughput for such a facility, assuming five users simultaneously reducing data, is estimated to be 2 to 3 times greater than is possible, for example, on a CDC7600.