MOVIES

XFlow CFD powered by enCORE server cluster

 

Engineers and analysts in the UK can now access XFlow Computational Fluid Dynamics [CFD] software as an online supercomputing service, powered by an 8,000-core server cluster, for the first time. For engineers in sectors such as manufacturing, design, science and architecture, the service will enable access to greater compute power than is possible on a personal desktop PC or local workstations; it will enable them to create more complex fluid flow simulations and help to reduce the time taken to analyse compute-intensive CFD simulations.

 

Live since July 2013, the service has already been tested and has shown almost linear speed increases up to 1000 cores, and is currently already being used by an international car manufacturer.

 

To complement the CFD supercomputing analysis service, engineers can also access Dragon HPC visualisation technology connected locally to the enCORE cluster via a high speed Ethernet. Ideal for engineers working in sectors such as aerospace, automotive and construction, access to Dragon HPC visualisation technology enables the manipulation of large data sets and creation of complex visualisations remotely.

 

“XFlow is a transient solver which creates a lot of information,” says Matt Hieatt, commercial director of FlowHD, which re-sells XFlow in the UK and Ireland. FlowHD also provides local expertise for implementation, training and support. Hieatt continues: “Running XFlow on a powerful server cluster such as enCORE is essential for speed of analysis. Importantly, if a user needs to post-process 100-150Gb data, it might take 5-6 hours to download on a local desktop PC. The added complementary functionality of Dragon HPC is essential so that users can post-process remotely and immediately.”

 

As well as traditional licensing, XFlow is available using a token licensing system that allows the software to be used from any location and across enCORE on a completely pay per use basis. This makes it totally unique in its flexibility of use, from small local jobs on a desktop machine up to large analysis across HPC, the token pool can be used for either.

 

Jerry Dixon, enCORE New Business Development manager for OCF says: “XFlow generates a lot of data for users which often puts it out of reach for customers. Operating the software as a service, using our enCORE HPC-on-Demand service, puts it back into the hands of thousands of engineers.”