Customer Stories

University of Calgary

Date : 5/1/2010
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The Dell and HPC people did a great job of installing the cluster. I was very impressed with them.

— Dr. Peter Kusalik, professor and head of the Chemistry Department, the University of Calgary, Canada

Challenge
The University of Calgary needed to optimize computing power while staying within the power envelope of 32 kW, to research the phenomena involved in the transitioning between disordered and ordered states such as the freezing of water into ice.
Solution
The university implemented a Dell and Intel® technology-based high-performance computing (HPC) cluster solution with 88 Dell™ PowerEdge™ blade servers with Intel® Xeon® processors in six Dell PowerEdge modular blade enclosures. Dell ProConsult™ services implemented the cluster along with HPC Systems Inc., a Dell partner.
Benefits
Dell and HPC Systems Inc., helped the University of Calgary realize the following benefits:

  • No hardware replacements needed in burn-in phase or afterward at 80 percent utilization 24x7
  • $50,000 power upgrade averted
  • One and a half times more processing capacity than competitors within required power envelope of 32 kW
  • Projected ability to answer questions with life-saving implications