Another news article about datacenters and HPC in Iceland.
--
Prentice
http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-09-20/bmw_finds_cool_locale_for_hpc_cluster.html
September 20, 2012
BMW Finds Cool Locale for HPC Cluster
Robert Gelber
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automaker BMW is getting ready to deploy an HPC cluster to run
simulations for designing it next-generation ultimate driving machines.
As with any supercomputing installation, this one is bound to consume
plenty of energy, which translates to high operational expenses. So the
car company decided to search for an efficient and environmentally
friendly plan to manage their system. They settled on locating
<http://asbru.is/english/news/bmw-to-use-asbru-data-center/291/> the
machine at Verne Global's Ásbrú datacenter in Iceland.
September 20, 2012
BMW Finds Cool Locale for HPC Cluster
Robert Gelber
Automaker BMW is getting ready to deploy an HPC cluster to run
simulations for designing it next-generation ultimate driving machines.
As with any supercomputing installation, this one is bound to consume
plenty of energy, which translates to high operational expenses. So the
car company decided to search for an efficient and environmentally
friendly plan to manage their system. They settled on locating the
machine at Verne Global's Ásbrú datacenter in Iceland.
The country has become an interesting option for datacenter users
because of its perpetually cool climate and cheap energy. Electricity in
the island nation costs roughly 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, thanks to
an abundance of renewable energy sources. The country generates most of
its electricity from glacier-fed rivers and geothermal vents. Given
these resources, it's no surprise that Verne Global decided to setup
their large scale computing facility at an abandoned NATO Air Force base
located in the city of Keflavík.
Data Center Knowledge reported that Mario Mueller, BMW's vice president
of IT infrastructure and chair at the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA),
brought up the company's plans at this year's Intel Developer Forum. The
car company will be Verne Global's fifth customer after CCP Games,
Datapipe, Opin Kerfi and GreenQloud. It will also follow ODCA usage
models to guide the cluster's build.
This is certainly not the first time a company or organization has
considered alternative approaches to providing energy and cooling to a
large computing installation. Apple is utilizing solar panels and
methane gas from a local landfill to generate electricity for their
iCloud datacenter. The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) deployed a
top 10 cluster in an oil submersion cooling system and Facebook built
one of the world's most efficient datacenters in Prineville Oregon using
designs from the Open Compute Project.The country has become an
interesting option for datacenter users because of its perpetually cool
climate and cheap energy. Electricity in the island nation costs roughly
4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, thanks to an abundance of renewable energy
sources. The country generates most of its electricity from glacier-fed
rivers and geothermal vents. Given these resources, it's no surprise
that Verne Global decided to setup their large scale computing facility
at an abandoned NATO Air Force base located in the city of Keflavík.
/Data Center Knowledge/ reported
<http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/09/20/bmw-to-build-hpc-clusters-at-verne-global-in-iceland/>
that Mario Mueller, BMW's vice president of IT infrastructure and chair
at the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), brought up the company's plans
at this year's Intel Developer Forum. The car company will be Verne
Global's fifth customer after CCP Games, Datapipe, Opin Kerfi and
GreenQloud. It will also follow ODCA usage models to guide the
cluster's build.
This is certainly not the first time a company or organization has
considered alternative approaches to providing energy and cooling to a
large computing installation. Apple is utilizing solar panels and
methane gas from a local landfill to generate electricity for their
iCloud datacenter
<http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-05-22/apple_datacenter_blooms_green_energy.html>.
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) deployed a top 10 cluster in
an oil submersion cooling system and Facebook built
<http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-04-26/facebook_showcases_green_datacenter.html>
one of the world's most efficient datacenters in Prineville Oregon using
designs from the Open Compute Project.
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