INDUSTRY
Manchester Selects Bull To Provide New Supercomputer
The University of Manchester, one of the leading centers for High Performance Computing (HPC) in the UK has chosen Bull Information Systems through a competitive procurement to provide a new supercomputer to help researchers undertake more advanced simulations. The supercomputer will be the first in the UK to use Intel's new Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor (Montecito) and the first implementation in the world of Bull's new NovaScale 3045 Symmetrical Multi-Processor server technology. With a total of 208 Montecito processor cores the Bull NovaScale supercomputer will have a peak performance of 1.33 Teraflops. 
The new system will be available to all staff and research students at the University and will boost processing power by 35x the previous generation, enabling more advanced research to be undertaken in areas such as Computational Chemistry, Engineering, Biomechanics and Climate modelling. “With our 2015 Agenda to become one of the world’s leading research-led universities we need to ensure that our researchers have access to the appropriate HPC capability. Bull Information Systems tendered the best overall solution including performance, cost effectiveness support and maintenance. The University of Manchester is keen to continue its tradition of leading the way in the early deployment of promising new technologies and thus is delighted to be the first in the UK to deploy a Montecito based HPC system. This new supercomputer will help us to continue competing on an international stage with the best universities in the world.” said Terry Hewitt, Director of Research Computing at the University of Manchester. The new supercomputer is fully integrated by Bull and incorporates a Quadrics QsNetII low-latency interconnect network, a Lustre parallel file system and a complete HPC software environment including software development tools and cluster management tools. "The University of Manchester is going to install the very latest technology by being the first in the country to use Intel’s Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor, enabling even greater performance and processing power. The new system will significantly increase research capability at the university and therefore create a facility that is envied by every other educational institution in the country.” said Richard George, EMEA Itanium Product Manager for Intel. “The University of Manchester continues to set the pace in HPC and the decision to implement the latest supercomputer from Bull really shows a commitment to sustaining world class research. We have worked with many research institutions both in the UK and Europe and the decision from The University of Manchester to use Bull to support its HPC requirement reflects our capability and experience in the industry.” said Mike Dunk, CEO UK and Ireland, Bull Information Systems.
The new system will be available to all staff and research students at the University and will boost processing power by 35x the previous generation, enabling more advanced research to be undertaken in areas such as Computational Chemistry, Engineering, Biomechanics and Climate modelling. “With our 2015 Agenda to become one of the world’s leading research-led universities we need to ensure that our researchers have access to the appropriate HPC capability. Bull Information Systems tendered the best overall solution including performance, cost effectiveness support and maintenance. The University of Manchester is keen to continue its tradition of leading the way in the early deployment of promising new technologies and thus is delighted to be the first in the UK to deploy a Montecito based HPC system. This new supercomputer will help us to continue competing on an international stage with the best universities in the world.” said Terry Hewitt, Director of Research Computing at the University of Manchester. The new supercomputer is fully integrated by Bull and incorporates a Quadrics QsNetII low-latency interconnect network, a Lustre parallel file system and a complete HPC software environment including software development tools and cluster management tools. "The University of Manchester is going to install the very latest technology by being the first in the country to use Intel’s Dual-Core Itanium 2 processor, enabling even greater performance and processing power. The new system will significantly increase research capability at the university and therefore create a facility that is envied by every other educational institution in the country.” said Richard George, EMEA Itanium Product Manager for Intel. “The University of Manchester continues to set the pace in HPC and the decision to implement the latest supercomputer from Bull really shows a commitment to sustaining world class research. We have worked with many research institutions both in the UK and Europe and the decision from The University of Manchester to use Bull to support its HPC requirement reflects our capability and experience in the industry.” said Mike Dunk, CEO UK and Ireland, Bull Information Systems.