Enabling collaboration in high performance computing

The West Virginia Cluster Computing Grid (WVCCG) Project is focused on enabling, enhancing, and supporting high performance computing-based research and education throughout the state of West Virginia. The goal of this National Science Foundation funded project is to provide educators and researchers access to moderate-cost computational resources. This goal was met by deploying production quality cluster computing resources at five small state colleges and universities, which in the future will connect to larger resources at a research university and a non-profit research organization. These resources allow the colleges to integrate high performance computing into their curriculum and become a part of a larger research community. This paper discusses the challenges and triumphs of such a project and details the educational and research initiatives undertaken by this group. The partners in this effort are the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, West Virginia University, Fairmont State University, Alderson-Broaddus College, Wheeling Jesuit University, Davis and Elkins College, and West Virginia State College.