computer science

Multiprogram Research Facility

Multiprogram Research Facility is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Multiprogram Research Facility rather than just read about it. In short: The Multiprogram Research Facility (MRF, also known as Building 5300) is a facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is used by the U.S.

Key takeaways

Multiprogram Research Facility belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Multiprogram Research Facility to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Multiprogram Research Facility from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Multiprogram Research Facility (MRF, also known as Building 5300) is a facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is used by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to design and build supercomputers for cryptanalysis and other classified projects. It houses the classified component program of the High Productivity Computing Systems (HPCS) project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

History The High Productivity Computing Systems program was launched in 2004 as a multiagency project led by DARPA with the goal of increasing computing speed a thousandfold, creating a supercomputer capable of one petaflop (a quadrillion [1015] floating-point operations a second). The project is sited at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and is split into two tracks, one top secret and one unclassified, housed in separate facilities. The secret facility, used by the NSA, is located within Building 5300 at the laboratory and is known as the Multiprogram Research Facility. The MRF was constructed in 2006 at a cost of $41 million. Located on the laboratory's East Campus, the building covers 214,000 square feet (19,900 m2) and rises five stories high. As of 2012, it is staffed by 318 computer scientists and engineers. While the unclassified portion of the HPCS project succeeded in designing the 1.3 petaflop Cray XT5 supercomputer in 2007, the MRF succeeded in developing an even faster machine, designed specifically for cryptanalysis and targeted against one or more specific algorithms, such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). A former NSA official called the MRF's breakthrough "enormous", giving the agency the ability to break current public encryption standards. The data upon which the supercomputer operates is stored at the agency's Utah Data Center in Bluffdale, Utah. The MRF's next goal is to achieve a machine capable of one exaflop (1018 floating-point operations per second) and then one zetaflop (1021). To achieve an exaflop machine by 2018, the NSA has proposed constructing two connecting buildings, totaling 260,000 square feet (24,000 m2), called the Multiprogram Computational Data Center. The buildings will store dozens of computer cabinets that will comprise the exaflop machine. The facility will eventually use about 200 megawatts of power—enough to power around 200,000 homes—and will require 60,000 short tons (54,000 tonnes) of cooling equipment.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Multiprogram Research Facility

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Multiprogram Research Facility claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Multiprogram Research Facility before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Multiprogram Research Facility ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Multiprogram Research Facility

In research: Multiprogram Research Facility appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Multiprogram Research Facility in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Multiprogram Research Facility is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in Roane County, Tennessee, DARPA projects, National Security Agency cryptography, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Multiprogram Research Facility outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Multiprogram Research Facility in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Multiprogram Research Facility means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Multiprogram Research Facility out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Multiprogram Research Facility in simple terms?

The Multiprogram Research Facility (MRF, also known as Building 5300) is a facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is used by the U.S.

Why does Multiprogram Research Facility matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Multiprogram Research Facility?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Multiprogram Research Facility.