ACADEMIA
Cardiff University Chooses Bull to Provide New Supercomputer
Bull has been selected by Cardiff University to provide a High Performance Computing (HPC) solution to support a range of advanced research projects, enabling researchers to tackle problems of significant size and complexity. Cardiff University is one of the leading research centres in the UK including two Nobel Prize winners; Professor Sir Martin Evans FRS being awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2007 for ground-breaking discoveries concerning embryonic stem cell and DNA recombination in mammals and Professor Robert Huber who was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre. 
The Supercomputer will be used by the Advanced Research Computing division of Cardiff University (ARCCA) to provide a high-performance computing service to users in its academic Schools, who currently have to use smaller departmental facilities. A primary role of the newly formed ARCCA division will be to foster the adoption of advanced research computing techniques in all Schools within the University. The system will have a peak performance in excess of 25 teraflops provided by a total of 2,048 Intel Harpertown quad cores connected via a ConnectX InfiniBand interconnect. The system will have a 40 terabyte high performance Lustre file system, and a 60 terabyte shared file system. "The University is delighted to be working in partnership with Bull on this project that will open up a range of new research frontiers. Research projects in the fields of astrophysics, fluid dynamics, geological simulation, materials science, and molecular simulation amongst many others will see major benefits", said Professor Martyn Guest, Director of Advanced Research Computing. "The new supercomputer will enable us to compete on research terms with the best universities in the world, and provide a unique opportunity to deliver on ARCCA's core mission of Research Enablement - our goal is to establish Advanced Research Computing as an invaluable tool for research across all Schools". "With this installation Cardiff University joins the top table of major HPC centres. Bull is pleased to supply Cardiff with this technology which will enhance its research and learning capabilities for all its students while also cementing Bull's reputation as a provider of market-leading HPC equipment", said Jenny Newton, CEO of Bull UK&I. The performance and competitiveness of the HPC solutions designed and integrated by Bull are now recognized by over 100 customers in 15 countries, across three continents and in all the main market sectors. Bull will supply, deliver, and install the system during February and March with the aim to begin acceptance tests during April for start of service at the end of April.
The Supercomputer will be used by the Advanced Research Computing division of Cardiff University (ARCCA) to provide a high-performance computing service to users in its academic Schools, who currently have to use smaller departmental facilities. A primary role of the newly formed ARCCA division will be to foster the adoption of advanced research computing techniques in all Schools within the University. The system will have a peak performance in excess of 25 teraflops provided by a total of 2,048 Intel Harpertown quad cores connected via a ConnectX InfiniBand interconnect. The system will have a 40 terabyte high performance Lustre file system, and a 60 terabyte shared file system. "The University is delighted to be working in partnership with Bull on this project that will open up a range of new research frontiers. Research projects in the fields of astrophysics, fluid dynamics, geological simulation, materials science, and molecular simulation amongst many others will see major benefits", said Professor Martyn Guest, Director of Advanced Research Computing. "The new supercomputer will enable us to compete on research terms with the best universities in the world, and provide a unique opportunity to deliver on ARCCA's core mission of Research Enablement - our goal is to establish Advanced Research Computing as an invaluable tool for research across all Schools". "With this installation Cardiff University joins the top table of major HPC centres. Bull is pleased to supply Cardiff with this technology which will enhance its research and learning capabilities for all its students while also cementing Bull's reputation as a provider of market-leading HPC equipment", said Jenny Newton, CEO of Bull UK&I. The performance and competitiveness of the HPC solutions designed and integrated by Bull are now recognized by over 100 customers in 15 countries, across three continents and in all the main market sectors. Bull will supply, deliver, and install the system during February and March with the aim to begin acceptance tests during April for start of service at the end of April.