[Beowulf] BMW Shifts Supercomputing To Iceland To Save Emissions

[Douglas Eadline]

>
> Mind you, I'm a huge fan of small clusters under a single person's
> control, where nobody is watching to see if you are making 'effective
> utilization' and you can do whatever you want.  A personal supercomputer,
> as it were.   But I recognize that for much of the HPC world, clusters are
> managed in the same way as big iron mainframes were in the 70s, with the
> convenience that you don't have to hike down to the computer center (or
> closer RJE node) with your box of cards and come back later to pick up
> your stack of green-bar paper.

And don't forget the blurry printing.

--
Doug

>
>
> Jim Lux
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org [mailto:beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org] On
> Behalf Of Eugen Leitl
> Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 6:18 AM
> To: Beowulf at beowulf.org
> Subject: [Beowulf] BMW Shifts Supercomputing To Iceland To Save Emissions
>
>
> (as we were discussing Iceland -- which has also other advantages, as e.g.
> the German Pirate Party is hosting some of its infrastructure there after
> having been raided on bogus charges).
>
>
> The firm is moving ten of its HPC clusters, consuming 6.31 GWh of energy
> each year annually, from Germany over to Verne Global’s data centre in
> Keflavik, Iceland which uses electricity from 100 percent renewable
> sources – Iceland’s geothermal and hydroelectric generators.
>
> <snip>
>
> Still, the reduction is real, and so is the demonstration of the Verne’s
> capabilities, along with the practicality of shifting major computing
> services to a country half an ocean away.
>
> BMW tested the network connections from Munich to Iceland, said Jeff
> Monroe, CEO of Verne Global.  “The test results were a critical factor
> in their decision to place production systems in Iceland.”
>
> *The move may also have had as much to do with power costs as the
> emissions.*
> With a big surplus and reliable long-term supplies of renewable energy,
> Iceland’s utilities offer very cheap deals and long term contracts.
> Monroe said this is one of Verne’s “core competitive advantages”,
> and prices are
> guaranteed: “We can offer customers a low, inflation-protected rate for
> up to
> 20 years – a significant consideration in light of rising long-term
> electricity costs in Europe, the UK and US.”
>
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-- 
Doug

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