KAYTUS, NEC build new RAMSES HPC cluster for the University of Cologne

November 25, 2024 10:04 AM

RAMSES HPC cluster at the University of Cologne

KAYTUS and NEC Deutschland partnered to supply the University of Cologne with a state-of-the-art liquid-cooled High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster to power research efforts.

RAMSES, which stands for Research Accelerator for Modeling and Simulation with Enhanced Security, replaces the ageing CHEOPS system and is capable of 4.8 Petaflops (PFLOPs) of computing power.

The new HPC cluster will be housed in the university’s data centre and will support research efforts across astrophysics, quantum physics, life sciences, and genome analysis.

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NEC and KAYTUS partnered to deliver a liquid-cooled cluster solution for the RAMSES system, including more than 170 servers, liquid-cooled cabinets, and a cooling distribution unit.

RAMSES features 174 nodes, equipped with 384 CPUs totaling 31,576 cores and 74 GPUs.

The new cluster can produce 48 times greater computing power than its predecessor.

“Analysing clinical genome data has not traditionally been a classic field of application for HPC systems,” said Professor Stefan Wesner, director of the regional Computing Center Cologne and head of the division of computer science at the University of Cologne. “RAMSES changes this — with end-to-end encryption throughout the entire calculation process and a customised system architecture that is currently unique in Germany.”

KAYTUS’ servers found in the cluster boast several security features, including encrypted hard disks to prevent unauthorised writing of unknown firmware and a dual-core redundant design that secures RAMSES’ core data at the chip level.

RAMSES also features leakage detection technology capable of automatically shutting down the system and issuing an alarm when a leak is detected.

“As HPC performance continues to advance and integrate more closely with AI, energy consumption has become a significant challenge for many data centres, including the University of Cologne,” said Noritaka Hoshi, managing director of NEC Deutschland. “NEC and KAYTUS are long-term partners committed to providing cutting-edge liquid cooling solutions to address heat dissipation issues in high-density computing environments.”