A number of projects within the British Geological Survey such as the Edinburgh Anisotropy Project and the BGS Global Geomagnetic Model produce techniques and data that are used by the oil industry in identifying and extracting new oil reserves. These projects had reached the limits of the available computing power and there was a need to increase the complexity and size of the tasks to process more realistic models and data sets.
This sophisticated and complex processing is becoming an increasingly important tool in discovering and accessing new supplies of oil. However with the modelling taking months to run and a requirement to run and re-run the data time and time again, they needed to improve their processing capability.
It was clear to Brian Bainbridge that the EAP needed to use a 'high powered computing' solution and their choice was a cluster, (multiple computers, multiple storage devices and redundant interconnections forming a highly available system ideal for parallel processing) with a really high-speed interconnection between the processors.
Compusys have provided the BGS with a scaleable and future proof solution which has enabled them to continue to grow the system without having to remove existing hardware. BGS have been able to buy processing power as and when they need it and take advantage of the latest developments. For example, the cluster was initially deployed with Intel® Pentium® III Xeon processors and has been upgraded twice (in early 2003 and again in early 2004) to take advantages of the latest technologies. The cluster now incorporates Intel® Xeon™ 2.8Ghz processors, delivering in excess of 70 'Gigaflops' peak performance (around 30 times that of a typical desktop computer).
In just six weeks from the order being placed, Compusys had built the system and were testing it in their own lab prior to delivery. The team at the Edinburgh Anisotropy project were able to log into the machine and try different configurations (either Ethernet or Myrinet) before the machine was installed on site.
"Cutting edge solutions have cutting edge problems, but Compusys have been very supportive and it's been a good experience. Compusys' helpdesk is probably one of the best I have dealt with." The business benefits The BGS found the benefits of the system were immediate and significant. It instantly improved productivity and response times for the team. |