U Utah Adds HP-Based HPC Servers and Storage

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/18/11

The University of Utah has gone public with implementation of a new Linux cluster in its Center for High Performance Computing that was made available to the campus research community earlier this year. At about the same time the Center has expanded high performance storage in its compute resources as the result of a year-long evaluation of vendor offerings.

According to Brian Haymore, lead for computer cluster administration, the new cluster, named "Ember," features 270 HP ProLiant SL160 Z G6 servers along with Mellanox Technologies' Voltair QDR InfiniBand switches and host channel adapters.

In November 2010 the Center added four X9320 couplets to its existing storage infrastructure. A couplet is HP's term for a pair of servers in a failover cluster. The raw capacity of the network storage system is about 350 terabytes, Haymore said. He added, "This was a stand-alone purchase to add high performance storage to our compute resources." That equipment is running IBRIX Fusion, a file system that was acquired by HP in 2009 and added to HP's ProLiant server line to form the X9000 series of storage systems.

That combination was tested against other offerings from Panasas; IBM with its General Parallel File System (GPFS); and Lustre File System, an open source offering.

"Our research groups use the [Center's] resources to quickly collect and analyze information for a variety of research projects at a national level," said Assistant Director Guy Adams. "When benchmarking potential solutions, we realized that the HP IBRIX-based X9320 would not only improve the efficiency of our operations and research, it offered a 'pay as you grow' approach that allowed us to optimize our initial investments."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • college student sitting at a laptop writing a college essay

    How Can Schools Manage AI in Admissions?

    Many questions remain around the role of artificial intelligence in admissions as schools navigate the balance between innovation and integrity.  

  • a hobbyist in casual clothes holds a hammer and a toolbox, building a DIY structure that symbolizes an AI model

    Ditch the DIY Approach to AI on Campus

    Institutions that do not adopt AI will quickly fall behind. The question is, how can colleges and universities do this systematically, securely, cost-effectively, and efficiently?

  • person signing a bill at a desk with a faint glow around the document. A tablet and laptop are subtly visible in the background, with soft colors and minimal digital elements

    California Governor Signs AI Content Safeguards into Law

    California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially signed off on a series of landmark artificial intelligence bills, signaling the state’s latest efforts to regulate the burgeoning technology, particularly in response to the misuse of sexually explicit deepfakes. The legislation is aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI-generated content, as concerns grow over the technology's potential to manipulate images, videos, and voices in ways that could cause significant harm.

  • laptop screen showing Coursera course

    Coursera Introduces New Gen AI Skills Training and Credentials

    Learning platform Coursera is expanding its Generative AI Academy training portfolio with an offering for teams, as well as adding new generative AI courses, specializations, and certificates.