Visualization server at DKRZ
As a complement to its high performance compute and data services, DKRZ has acquired a new high end visualization server system in order to simplify the interactive visual analysis of climate model data. Based on an “HP SVA” Linux visualization cluster, a new, easy to use 3D-visualization software as well as a remote-3D- rendering solution, DKRZ enables its users to visualize even large modelling results interactively on their own workstations. In addition, DKRZ offers the opportunity to visualize own data sets locally at DKRZ with local high resolution stereoscopic displays, to present visualizations (on request also stereoscopically) interactively in the DKRZ seminar room or to live-record a visualization session at the DKRZ video laboratory.
Special advantages of the use of remote-3D-visualization with the DKRZ visualization server are:
- The local workstation only has to meet very few requirements with respect to the hardware (no 3D-graphics card and only little disk space necessary).
- The (large) data doesn´t have to be transferred to the local workstation, it remains within the efficient DKRZ net-infrastructure.
- The visualization nodes are particularly efficient (CPU, memory, I/O, graphics card) in the comparison with usual personal computers.
- A particularly efficient parallel file system can be used.
- A customized 3D-visualization software as well as many other useful tools are available.