MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 7 February 2005. A state-of-the-art radar surveillance center operated by the Department of Homeland Security and powered by high-performance computing and storage technology from Silicon Graphics is playing an integral role in protecting America.
Under a contract with The Titan Corp., SGI Altix supercomputers and SGI InfiniteStorage solutions have been successfully installed at the Air Marine Operations Center (AMOC) in Riverside, Calif., to help the center better utilize its extensive detection, monitoring, and coordination capabilities to secure the national airspace.
The AMOC is linked to civilian and military radar sites, aerostats, airborne reconnaissance aircraft and other detection assets, which provide 24-hour radar surveillance over the United States and the Caribbean. This allows AMOC to identify, track, and support the interdiction and apprehension of violators attempting to enter U.S. airspace with illegal drugs or terrorist objectives.
Three SGI Altix servers powered by 16 Intel Itanium 2 processors each run the SGI InfiniteStorage Shared Filesystem CXFS for instant shared access to 8TB of SGI InfiniteStorage TP9500 Fibre Channel disk on an SGI Storage Area Network (SAN) to form an integrated solution that enables the AMOC to process, store and share the enormous amount of data that flows through the center from a plethora of sources.
"AMOC is yet another example of how SGI solutions enable government customers to collect, process, analyze, archive and exploit massive amounts of complex data -- from multiple sources -- required for making and communicating critical decisions with greater speed and confidence," said Anthony Robbins, president, SGI Federal. "We are proud as a company to support AMOC and its important mission of securing the national airspace. Together with partners like The Titan Corporation, we are transforming the government decision cycle by rapidly turning complex data into actionable insight for military and civilian agencies."
Part of AMOC's mandate is to utilize the latest technology to further its mission. The installation of an integrated SGI compute/storage solution has enabled AMOC to process the radar surveillance data coming into the center faster, to store it and put it in the hands of AMOC staff that urgently need it. Leveraging the compute power and storage capacity of its SGI systems, the center's staff fuse intelligence information, public information and law enforcement information with the radar data, allowing them to access detailed information on the movement, registration, and criminal histories of aircraft, vessels, vehicles, and individuals.
Since September 11, 2001, AMOC has turned its surveillance and database capabilities toward protecting the people of the United States from further terrorist assaults while continuing to deter the smuggling of narcotics into the United States. Because of its extensive radar surveillance capability, AMOC is also providing airspace security coverage over Washington, D.C. and has provided airspace security for a number of significant events, including the Summer Games, Winter Games and Super Bowl. Whether identifying and tracking suspects, providing 24-hour surveillance on high priority targets, or performing airspace security missions, AMOC is a vital link in the Homeland Security network.
Operated by the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine Operations (AMO), the center is a national interagency law enforcement facility utilizing civil aviation and military sensor networks to support law enforcement and national defense operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Office of Air and Marine Operations
The mission of AMO is to protect the American people and critical infrastructure by using an integrated and coordinated air and marine force to deter, interdict, and investigate acts of terrorism and smuggling arising from unlawful movement of people and goods across the borders of the United States. It also provides significant aviation and marine support for the counter-terrorism efforts of many other law enforcement agencies. AMO plays a critical role in homeland security by providing airspace security throughout the United States, including the National Capital Region.
Headquartered in San Diego, The Titan Corporation is a leading provider of comprehensive information and communications systems solutions and services to the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and other federal government customers. As a provider of national security solutions, the company has approximately 12,000 employees and annualized sales of approximately $2 billion.
SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is a leader in high-performance computing, visualization and storage. SGI's vision is to provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it's sharing images to aid in brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate, providing technologies for homeland security and defense, or enabling the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and creative users. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. For more information, see www.sgi.com.
