Photos: Brain of Britain

The computer centre network, part of which is seen here, has links running at about 20Gbps with a aggregate bandwidth of 11.52 terabits per second.

Professor Martyn Guest, director of Arcca, said the high performance computer centre would allow a wide variety of studies that would previously have been impossible.

The computing centre is pushing the boundaries of cutting-edge research in areas including health, where it is helping Cardiff University Hospital of Wales' positron emission tomography scanner to detect cancers at a smaller size; geoscience, where it is simulating movements of the earth's crust; astrophysics where it is recreating the formation of stars and planets; archaeology where it's working to pinpoint carbon dating of prehistoric sites; and renewable energy where it is modelling waves.

It also complements work to unlock the secrets of the brain being undertaken by the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre.

Photo credit: Cardiff University