Asperitas has announced a new contract in collaboration with T-Systems, Penguin Computing and Gigabyte to deliver an energy-efficient, scalable and High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster in Shell's Amsterdam datacentre. The natural convection-driven Immersed Computing solution integrates into datacentre facilities and requires minimal overheads while also complementing infrastructure monitoring platforms, allowing for real-time management by the service providers supporting Shell.
Asperitas will be providing an infrastructure upgrade for Shell’s HPC cluster in Amsterdam. The cluster will be delivered by Penguin Computing and their OEM partners to offer a fully integrated and optimized solution suitable for enterprise-level HPC. The deployment of the AIC24 solution will meet the demands of Shell’s HPC team for efficient high-density and performance computing on both a system and server-level within a sustainable datacentre environment. The system will facilitate both CPU and GPU driven applications and offers the flexibility to easily scale with future demands and next hardware generations.
Peter Uelen, Asperitas CCO said: 'Given Shell is a strategic partner of Asperitas and we have developed the Immersion Cooling Fluid product together, winning this deal and working alongside trusted partners like T-Systems, Intel and Penguin Computing to support the infrastructure upgrade, exemplifies and accelerates the partnership. It is our collective mission to enable sustainable and high performance datacentres anywhere and we are excited the team will be using a cluster facilitated with our Immersed Computing solutions.'
Speaking on the collaboration with Asperitas, William Wu, Vice president of marketing and product management at Penguin Computing, remarked: “Penguin Computing has been working alongside Asperitas to incorporate an optimized immersion cooling capability into our HPC Solutions. Both parties learned a lot from each other during this process and we are looking forward to being part of this new chapter for Shell HPC.“
David Baldwin, HPC program manager, Shell commented: 'Shell's High-Performance Computing team worked very closely with the Asperitas technical team to provide the best solution for our new cluster in Amsterdam. This cluster is a critical part of our R&D capacity to help us discover new energy resources, develop new products and drive our digital transition.'
The Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid product, specifically developed for Immersed Computing, is a synthetic, single-phase immersion cooling fluid made from gas using Shell’s gas-to-liquids technology. It is optimised for Asperitas’ natural-convection-driven immersion cooling solutions but can also be used in pumped circulation systems of other providers. The liquid is designed to reduce energy costs and emissions through its high cooling efficiency, excellent flow behaviour as well as its thermodynamic properties. The immersion cooling fluid was introduced to the datacentre market at the Global Open Compute Project Summit earlier this year.
Sundeep Kamath, global marketing manager for process oils at Shell added: 'Data is the new oil and is being generated at an exponentially increasing pace. Today, datacentres account for about 1 per cent of global energy use and this is only going to increase. This award-winning solution can cut the energy footprint of datacentres by half, while also increasing compute performance and lowering costs; it’s a win-win on all fronts. We are convinced of the great benefits of this innovative technology and hope more of our partners and customers benefit by adopting this solution for their compute needs and their own decarbonization journeys.'
Asperitas is known for collaboration with partners to develop integrated solutions and concepts that have been optimised for immersion cooling, utilising its full potential regarding efficiency, sustainability and performance. These collaborations include system integrators, datacentre operators and original equipment manufacturers.
'T-Systems has been the service provider for Shell since 2008, including datacentre services. Our datacentre team is looking forward to supporting Shell HPC on their journey with Asperitas and is excited to see the technology going into production.' said Wenche Dikstaal, service delivery manager for datacenters at T-Systems. 'Liquid and immersion cooling is gaining traction in the enterprise space and T-Systems is proud to be involved in something that could be considered a lighthouse project in this space.'
Tonya Cosby, global enterprise account manager – Energy, Intel added: 'Intel is collaborating with Asperitas to deliver a sustainable solution that will help Shell work towards net zero goals. We are evolving our corporate responsibility strategy to increase the scale of our work with strategic partners to harness the power of technology to solve global challenges, as it is our shared responsibility to collectivity measure our carbon footprint. Combining Intel technologies with the Asperitas’ solution alongside Shell’s immersion cooling fluid will not only benefit Shell, but it can benefit datacentres globally.'
Tonya continued: 'We believe that when hardware, software and good ideas come together, technology has the power to have an authentic, human impact and enable meaningful connections. We remain committed to Shell by developing and investing in innovative technology to power the next chapter of the global energy industry.'
The installation is scheduled for January 2021, with Asperitas working alongside Penguin Computing, Gigabyte and Intel to provide the integrated high performance compute solutions.
