Verne announced the successful deployment of a new high-performance computing (HPC) cluster in Iceland for open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software provider, ENGYS, in collaboration with HPC expert OCF.
CFD is vital to optimise engineering design in a myriad of industries, from automative companies like Formula One, to construction, aerospace, and academia. But this complex technology takes a lot of energy to run, and therefore comes at a carbon cost. With ENGYS’ on-premise cluster with OCF in the UK reaching end-of-life, the company realised it had an opportunity to move the compute to a more sustainable and efficient location. Verne’s Icelandic data center was the optimal choice.
Access to 100 percent renewable energy
Iceland’s access to 100% renewable energy resources feeds the country’s notoriously stable grid, meaning collocating compute here is a reliable and cost-effective investment. Access to 100 percent renewable hydroelectric and geothermal energy as well as free air cooling due to the naturally temperate climate in Iceland means that compute runs at a vastly reduced carbon cost – which was a priority for both ENGYS and OCF.
OCF designed, configured, and put a Supermicro solution into production for ENGYS, and, together with Verne, ensured ENGYS’ Icelandic deployment went smoothly. What’s more, Verne and OCF were able to complete the deployment remotely, without the need for OCF or ENGYS to physically travel to Iceland – further improving the energy efficiency of the whole operation.
Reactions
“Verne is committed to driving the future of sustainable computing,” said Alex Picchietti, Vice President, Alliance and Partnerships, Verne. “Our collaboration with OCF in deploying ENGYS’ new HPC cluster in Iceland shows how businesses can achieve outstanding performance while adhering to true sustainability and environmental responsibility.”
“Sustainability is at the core of OCF’s business, so we were thrilled to work with Verne to support ENGYS’ transition to a more sustainable and cost-effective computing solution,” said Robert Prior, Marketing Manager at OCF. “As we do not have a physical presence in Iceland, we completed the installation remotely from Sheffield, further reducing the deployment’s environmental impact.”
“At ENGYS, sustainability is important to us and to our customers, who often utilise CFD to drive efficiency gains within their own operations,” said Andrew Jackson, Head of Development at ENGYS. “With our new Icelandic cluster, we can achieve our sustainability goals, while also taking advantage of a more stable and predictably priced energy grid. Furthermore, as Verne’s data center campus is designed to support high intensity compute at scale, we can rest assured that our services will always run as efficiently as possible, even as we continue to grow.”
ENGYS has plans to expand capacity with more dense clusters in Iceland in the future.
