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<p class="dateline">Another news article about datacenters and HPC
in Iceland.<br>
</p>
<p class="dateline">--<br>
Prentice<br>
</p>
<p class="dateline"><br>
</p>
<p class="dateline"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-09-20/bmw_finds_cool_locale_for_hpc_cluster.html">http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-09-20/bmw_finds_cool_locale_for_hpc_cluster.html</a><br>
</p>
<p class="dateline">September 20, 2012</p>
<h2 class="black noBorder">BMW Finds Cool Locale for HPC Cluster</h2>
<p class="byline"> Robert Gelber </p>
<hr>
<p>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 <a
href="http://asbru.is/english/news/bmw-to-use-asbru-data-center/291/"
target="_blank">locating</a> the machine at Verne Global’s Ásbrú
datacenter in Iceland.</p>
<p>September 20, 2012<br>
BMW Finds Cool Locale for HPC Cluster<br>
<br>
Robert Gelber<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.</p>
<p><em>Data Center Knowledge</em> <a
href="http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/09/20/bmw-to-build-hpc-clusters-at-verne-global-in-iceland/"
target="_blank">reported</a> 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.</p>
<p>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 <a
href="http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-05-22/apple_datacenter_blooms_green_energy.html"
target="_blank">iCloud datacenter</a>. The Texas Advanced
Computing Center (TACC) deployed a top 10 cluster in an oil
submersion cooling system and Facebook <a
href="http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2012-04-26/facebook_showcases_green_datacenter.html"
target="_blank">built</a> one of the world’s most efficient
datacenters in Prineville Oregon using designs from the Open
Compute Project.<br>
<br>
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