FEB 2010: 300-node Hybrid HPCC for Singapore’s Local University

NovaGlobal has successfully completed the commissioning of a 300-node Hybrid HPCC for a university in Singapore. The system is based on IBM System x iDataPlex, powered by Intel X5570 Nehalem processors. Besides 300 nodes of iDataPlex computational servers, the water-cooled system includes the IBM System X x3950 8-way SMP System; IBM System P p550 SMP System; the high-speed Infiniband Inter-node (Voltaire ISR4700 Quad Data Rate switch). Along with the hardware configuration, NovaGlobal also provided services to install and configure the software needed such as IBM GPFS, MOAB Adaptive HPC, xCAT, Torque and CENTRIFY. The system is capable of supporting both Linux and Windows computations concurrently.

The new Hybrid HPCC has been up and running since February 2010. Boasting a measured computing power of over 28 teraflops (trillion mathematical calculations every second) the system has enabled the university’s thriving research community to fully engage in the multidisciplinary study of a wide range of subjects. With Voltaire’s high bandwidth QDR as the interconnects for its HPC environment, it enjoys improved security, accelerated analytical and data processing performance and significant scaling advantages over other technologies. The university’s new high capacity IBM System Storage DCS9900, which offers a total of 700 TB raw disk space and completed by IBM GPFS, is one of the fastest and densest storage solutions available today. It reliably and efficiently stores, manages and protects all of NTU’s critical research data and enables quick search and retrieval, strengthening interaction and collaboration between faculties. The largest and fastest supercomputer among all academic institutions in ASEAN is also one of the greenest, ranked 29th worldwide in terms of energy efficiency. Its PUE or power usage effectiveness level of 1.4 stands in stark contrast to the 2.3 of the earlier system.