U Louisville Research Cluster Capacity with 194 IBM iDataPlex Nodes

Two and a half years after implementing a new high performance computing cluster to accommodate research on campus, the University of Louisville maxed out its capacity. Last week the university announced that it had gone online with new gear from IBM that will double its research computing power. The $1.8 million investment in the supercomputing system has outfitted the Cardinal Research Cluster with new IBM iDataplex nodes.

According to Mike Dyre, director of IT planning and finance, the university has added 194 IBM iDataPlex dx360 M3 nodes. Each node has two Intel Xeon 2.66GHz processors, 500 GB of local storage, and 48 GB of memory. The system also includes four nodes (soon to be 14) with dual general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) for visualization and accelerated processing. With the new nodes that brings the grand total to 520 nodes and over 5,000 cores for the whole cluster, he said.

Dyre added that research projects using the cluster are focusing on cancer research, solar energy, bioinformatics applications, metabolomics, materials science, and molecular modeling.

"With the previous computer, we went from years of work down to just weeks. With the upgrade, we can now take it down to days," said John Trent, who performs pediatric cancer research. "It's a tremendous resource and it really is second to none."

IBM has given the university a "Shared University Research" award, which is accompanied by extra computing systems and access to IBM engineers to work with Louisville's IT staff to maximize the supercomputer's performance.

"Our researchers and staff have been able to greatly expand innovation in critical areas with the help of the Cardinal Research Cluster," said Priscilla Hancock, vice president and chief information officer at U Louisville. "Collaborating with IBM has given the University access to high performing systems that optimally manage our research."

The cluster expansion was partially funded by a $1.8 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, a unit of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • cloud and circuit patterns with AI stamp

    Cloud Management Startup Launches Infrastructure Intelligence Tool

    A new AI-powered infrastructure intelligence tool from cloud management startup env0 aims to turn the fog of sprawling, enterprise-scale deployments into crisp, queryable insight, minus the spreadsheets, scripts, and late-night Slack threads.

  • human figures surrounded by precise arcs with book and gear icons

    Kennedy-King College Rolls Out Holistic Student Support Program

    Chicago's Kennedy-King College is expanding student support services through a collaboration between City Colleges of Chicago and One Million Degrees (OMD), a Chicago-based nonprofit serving low-income community college students.

  • college students in a classroom focus on a silver laptop, with a neural network diagram on the monitor in the background

    Report: 93% of Students Believe Gen AI Training Belongs in Degree Programs

    The vast majority of today's college students — 93% — believe generative AI training should be included in degree programs, according to a recent Coursera report. What's more, 86% of students consider gen AI the most crucial technical skill for career preparation, prioritizing it above in-demand skills such as data strategy and software development.

  • laptop and fish hook

    Security Firm Identifies Generative AI 'Vishing' Attack

    A new report from Ontinue's Cyber Defense Center has identified a complex, multi-stage cyber attack that leveraged social engineering, remote access tools, and signed binaries to infiltrate and persist within a target network.