HPC YEARBOOK 2021/22


to remote learning, we needed reliable, scalable technology to provide our 53,000 students and faculty with quick, easy access to critical data and applications at all times, from any location. Dell EMC PowerStore is at the centre of our IT modernisation efforts because it delivers the high performance and availability needed to support leading-edge teaching and research without any downtime or data loss.’


The university uses Dell hardware to


store scientific computing applications for genomics and biology, chemistry, physics and engineering. The Dell PowerStore’s NVMe-based, adaptable design delivered a 6x performance improvement on previous storage infrastructure, making applications faster and easier to access. PowerStore’s deduplication and


compression capabilities also have allowed the university to realise three times the capacity savings when compared to its previous storage infrastructure. PowerStore’s AppsON capability, which allows storage administrators to run applications directly on the storage array, has greatly simplified application and data mobility throughout its four data centres spread across the city. Jeff Boudreau, president and


general manager, Infrastructure Solutions Group at Dell Technologies explained: ‘Performance and availability are key for institutions like The University of Pisa that pursue critical medical and biological research. With


based simulation has been well- established for decades, but we are continuing to see smaller organisations and engineering teams realising its potential for the first time “


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the latest Dell Technologies storage systems, students and faculty have immediate access to the data and applications that drive meaningful research forward, even as Pisa has instituted remote learning.’ The university’s storage


infrastructure also includes a Dell EMC PowerMax storage array to support VDI and remote workstations and database workloads. With PowerMax, the university


has experienced five times faster data processing and 80 per cent better performance for its essential applications, allowing them to access key research and applications faster than before. In order to support demanding


AI and bare-metal HPC workloads, The University of Pisa also uses Dell EMC PowerScale all-flash storage. PowerScale’s scalability and flexibility is important as the university expects its total amount of unstructured data to double within a year.


Supporting AI HPC integrators are no more impervious to the march of AI than other HPC companies and so they too must adapt to support this fast-growing technology. In a recent announcement, European HPC specialist Atos announced it was partnering with Graphcore so that it could offer advanced AI solutions to scientists and researchers. In a press release discussing the


announcement Fabrice Moizan, general manager, and senior vice president for sales EMEAI and Asia Pacific at Graphcore, commented: ‘ThinkAI represents a massive commitment


to the future of artificial intelligence by one of the world’s most trusted technology companies. ‘For Atos to have put Graphcore


as a key part of its strategy says a great deal about the maturity of our hardware and software, and the ability of our systems to deliver on customer needs.’


ThinkAI brings together Atos’ AI business consultancy expertise – with its experts at the AtosCenter of Excellence in Advanced Computing – with its digital security capabilities and its software, such as Atos HPC Software Suites, to enable organisations to accelerate time to adopt AI technology. Graphcore, the UK-headquartered


maker of the Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU), plays a significant role in Atos’ ThinkAI offering, which is focused on the twin objectives of accelerating pure artificial intelligence applications and augmenting traditional HPC simulation with AI. Graphcore’s IPU-POD systems for


scale-up data centre computing will be an integral part of ThinkAI. Agnès Boudot, senior vice president, head of HPC and Quantum at Atos, said: ‘With ThinkAI, we’re making it possible for organisations from any industry to achieve breakthroughs with AI. ‘Graphcore’s IPU hardware and


Poplar software are opening up new opportunities for innovators to explore the potential of AI for their organisations, complemented with our industry-tailored AI business consultancy, digital security capabilities and software, we’re excited to be orchestrating these cutting-edge technologies in our ThinkAI solution.’ l


www.scientific-computing.com


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