Cloud Computing Vendors for HPC

By Nicole Hemsoth

November 3, 2009

The goal of this article was to identify companies that have cloud product or service offers that could appeal to HPC users. It became clear that there are many companies with HPC-specific cloud offerings, but there are also users employing general-purpose commercial clouds — Amazon, Google, etc. — for running HPC workloads. To that extent, this pre-SC09 product round up includes companies from the HPC community as well as from the commercial cloud market.

We know that the information contained here will change dramatically over the next few months. Many traditional HPC companies and organizations will be making announcements during SC09. In addition, new players to the high performance computing space will also be making their presence felt.

The information here is derived from vendor material, either from the company Web site, datasheet material, or in many cases, direct contact. Where appropriate the information has been edited for brevity. If your favorite vendor is not listed, don’t worry. This is not intended to be a complete listing, but is indicative of the growth we are seeing in cloud offerings for HPC. If you are using a cloud product or service provider, we encourage you to email us at [email protected] so that we may update the information. Likewise, if you are a vendor of cloud products and not listed here, let us know. The intent is to create an online version of this database, which can be dynamically updated.

—–

3Leaf Systems

Newcomer 3Leaf Systems enables a cloud computing environment to be built from low-cost commodity servers by providing virtualization of CPU and memory resources for an entire server farm.

Adaptive Computing

Formerly Cluster Resources, Inc., Adaptive Computing offers a range of HPC cluster and cloud computing middleware products. When combined with the company’s self-service Moab Cloud Portal, the Adaptive Operating Environment delivers an architecture for utility-based computing environments.

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a Web service that provides resizable compute capacity in a public cloud. It is designed to make Web-scale computing easier for developers. Services are provided as a pay-for-usage model, with high-memory and high-CPU instances available.

Bull

Bull’s bullx servers are positioned as platforms for “Extreme Computing,” optimized for running high performance computing, very large-scale online transaction processing (OLTP), and cloud computing workloads.

Cycle Computing

Cycle Computing, provides open source cloud solutions, including CycleServer and CycleCloud, for deploying Condor grids in the Cloud, and CloudFS, a storage cloud based on Apache’s Hadoop.

Darkstrand

Darkstrand is a Chicago-based startup that is commercializing the National LambdaRail (NLR) network and connecting HPC expertise and resources at NLR-affiliated national labs and universities with companies in media and entertainment, manufacturing, biotech and financial services.

Google App Engine

App Engine is a commercial cloud platform for building and deploying Web applications on Google’s network of server farms — the same infrastructure that powers Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar.

Gompute (a Gridcore company)

Gompute provides on-demand high performance computing for technical and scientific computing applications. Consultants and ISVs are able to sell their services and software licenses via the Gompute platform.

HP

HP provides the building blocks for cloud infrastructure as well as design and integration support for large-scale datacenters. The company also offers its own Cloud Consulting Services, a Cloud Discovery Workshop, and a Cloud Roadmap Service.

IBM

IBM has a portfolio of cloud offerings, services, and technologies including hardware/software building blocks for cloud platforms. IBM’s Computing on Demand (CoD), an HPC cloud infrastructure service, offers clients the ability to rent HPC Clusters hosted in global IBM cloud centers by the hour, week or year.  

Microsoft Azure Platform

The Azure Services Platform is a cloud environment that provides a set of services for the development, management and hosting of applications across Microsoft datacenters. Using these service, developers can build their own applications to be deployed in the cloud.

Nimbis Services

Nimbis acts as a clearinghouse for buyers and sellers of what they call “Digital Analysis Computing (DAC)” services. It does this via pre-negotiated access to high performance computing services, software and expertise from on-demand vendors, ISVs and domain experts.

NVIDIA RealityServer

The NVIDIA RealityServer platform combines Tesla GPUs and 3D Web services software into a cloud platform that delivers interactive, photorealistic content over the Web. The resulting applications can be used by media artists, product designers, engineers, architects, scientists and consumers.

Penguin Computing

Penguin on Demand (or “POD”) is the company’s HPC-as-a-service offering aimed at end users and SaaS providers looking for a high performance, on-demand environment. CPU cycles can be rented on a pay-as-you-go basis or through a monthly subscription.

Platform Computing

Platform’s ISF product is a private cloud platform that builds on the company’s HPC cluster and grid management expertise. ISF is designed to support a shared computing infrastructure and deliver application environments according to workload-aware and resource-aware policies.

R Systems

R Systems provides HPC hardware resources on-demand for academic researchers and commercial organizations, offering both Linux and Windows-based cluster systems.

SGI CloudRack

SGI’s CloudRack C2 is server cabinet targeted for cloud-scale infrastructure. The enclosure is built for extreme density and energy efficiency, and is designed to operate in hot datacenter environments — up to 104F. The CloudRack X2 is a variant designed for HPC workloads.

Sun Microsystems

Sun offers hardware and software building blocks for cloud building. The company’s Open Cloud Platform is designed to support both public and private clouds. Its own public cloud service, the Sun Cloud, is due out later this year.

The MathWorks

MATLAB includes built-in support to run on the European EGEE grid (Enabling Grids for E-sciencE). In addition, MathWorks parallel computing products can be configured to run MATLAB and Simulink applications on Amazon’s EC2 platform.

ToutVirtual

ToutVirtual enables enterprise and HPC users to automate cloud computing workloads. VirtualIQ, the company’s flagship product, allows users to view and manage their servers, applications, storage and clients.

T-Services

An affiliate of T-Platforms Holding, T-Services is a Russian company that offers a range of high performance computing services including providing access to supercomputing infrastructure, computational software, and HPC expertise. The company also helps customers manage their own HPC sites.

Univa UD

Univa offers a range of cloud software products that allow HPC and enterprise users to build and manage cloud computing environments. Private, public, and hybrid cloud environments are all supported.

VMware

VMware’s vCloud delivers a single way to run, manage and secure applications. Through VMware’s ecosystem of cloud service providers, you can get VMware Virtualized services ranging from on-demand, pay-as-you go infrastructure, to enterprise-class, production ready offerings.

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha is a Web-based computational platform, based on Mathematica and utilizing large-scale HPC infrastructure. A newly announced API gives users the capability to build custom applications on top of the platform.

Subscribe to HPCwire's Weekly Update!

Be the most informed person in the room! Stay ahead of the tech trends with industry updates delivered to you every week!

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion XL — were added to the benchmark suite as MLPerf continues Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing power it brings to artificial intelligence.  Nvidia's DGX Read more…

Call for Participation in Workshop on Potential NSF CISE Quantum Initiative

March 26, 2024

Editor’s Note: Next month there will be a workshop to discuss what a quantum initiative led by NSF’s Computer, Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate could entail. The details are posted below in a Ca Read more…

Waseda U. Researchers Reports New Quantum Algorithm for Speeding Optimization

March 25, 2024

Optimization problems cover a wide range of applications and are often cited as good candidates for quantum computing. However, the execution time for constrained combinatorial optimization applications on quantum device Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at the network layer threatens to make bigger and brawnier pro Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HBM3E memory as well as the the ability to train 1 trillion pa Read more…

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing po Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HB Read more…

Nvidia Looks to Accelerate GenAI Adoption with NIM

March 19, 2024

Today at the GPU Technology Conference, Nvidia launched a new offering aimed at helping customers quickly deploy their generative AI applications in a secure, s Read more…

The Generative AI Future Is Now, Nvidia’s Huang Says

March 19, 2024

We are in the early days of a transformative shift in how business gets done thanks to the advent of generative AI, according to Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Read more…

Nvidia’s New Blackwell GPU Can Train AI Models with Trillions of Parameters

March 18, 2024

Nvidia's latest and fastest GPU, codenamed Blackwell, is here and will underpin the company's AI plans this year. The chip offers performance improvements from Read more…

Nvidia Showcases Quantum Cloud, Expanding Quantum Portfolio at GTC24

March 18, 2024

Nvidia’s barrage of quantum news at GTC24 this week includes new products, signature collaborations, and a new Nvidia Quantum Cloud for quantum developers. Wh Read more…

Alibaba Shuts Down its Quantum Computing Effort

November 30, 2023

In case you missed it, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has shut down its quantum computing research effort. It’s not entirely clear what drove the change. Read more…

Nvidia H100: Are 550,000 GPUs Enough for This Year?

August 17, 2023

The GPU Squeeze continues to place a premium on Nvidia H100 GPUs. In a recent Financial Times article, Nvidia reports that it expects to ship 550,000 of its lat Read more…

Shutterstock 1285747942

AMD’s Horsepower-packed MI300X GPU Beats Nvidia’s Upcoming H200

December 7, 2023

AMD and Nvidia are locked in an AI performance battle – much like the gaming GPU performance clash the companies have waged for decades. AMD has claimed it Read more…

DoD Takes a Long View of Quantum Computing

December 19, 2023

Given the large sums tied to expensive weapon systems – think $100-million-plus per F-35 fighter – it’s easy to forget the U.S. Department of Defense is a Read more…

Synopsys Eats Ansys: Does HPC Get Indigestion?

February 8, 2024

Recently, it was announced that Synopsys is buying HPC tool developer Ansys. Started in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1970 as Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) by John Swanson (and eventually renamed), Ansys serves the CAE (Computer Aided Engineering)/multiphysics engineering simulation market. Read more…

Choosing the Right GPU for LLM Inference and Training

December 11, 2023

Accelerating the training and inference processes of deep learning models is crucial for unleashing their true potential and NVIDIA GPUs have emerged as a game- Read more…

Intel’s Server and PC Chip Development Will Blur After 2025

January 15, 2024

Intel's dealing with much more than chip rivals breathing down its neck; it is simultaneously integrating a bevy of new technologies such as chiplets, artificia Read more…

Baidu Exits Quantum, Closely Following Alibaba’s Earlier Move

January 5, 2024

Reuters reported this week that Baidu, China’s giant e-commerce and services provider, is exiting the quantum computing development arena. Reuters reported � Read more…

Leading Solution Providers

Contributors

Comparing NVIDIA A100 and NVIDIA L40S: Which GPU is Ideal for AI and Graphics-Intensive Workloads?

October 30, 2023

With long lead times for the NVIDIA H100 and A100 GPUs, many organizations are looking at the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, which it’s a new GPU optimized for AI and g Read more…

Shutterstock 1179408610

Google Addresses the Mysteries of Its Hypercomputer 

December 28, 2023

When Google launched its Hypercomputer earlier this month (December 2023), the first reaction was, "Say what?" It turns out that the Hypercomputer is Google's t Read more…

AMD MI3000A

How AMD May Get Across the CUDA Moat

October 5, 2023

When discussing GenAI, the term "GPU" almost always enters the conversation and the topic often moves toward performance and access. Interestingly, the word "GPU" is assumed to mean "Nvidia" products. (As an aside, the popular Nvidia hardware used in GenAI are not technically... Read more…

Shutterstock 1606064203

Meta’s Zuckerberg Puts Its AI Future in the Hands of 600,000 GPUs

January 25, 2024

In under two minutes, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, laid out the company's AI plans, which included a plan to build an artificial intelligence system with the eq Read more…

Google Introduces ‘Hypercomputer’ to Its AI Infrastructure

December 11, 2023

Google ran out of monikers to describe its new AI system released on December 7. Supercomputer perhaps wasn't an apt description, so it settled on Hypercomputer Read more…

China Is All In on a RISC-V Future

January 8, 2024

The state of RISC-V in China was discussed in a recent report released by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The report, entitled "E Read more…

Intel Won’t Have a Xeon Max Chip with New Emerald Rapids CPU

December 14, 2023

As expected, Intel officially announced its 5th generation Xeon server chips codenamed Emerald Rapids at an event in New York City, where the focus was really o Read more…

IBM Quantum Summit: Two New QPUs, Upgraded Qiskit, 10-year Roadmap and More

December 4, 2023

IBM kicks off its annual Quantum Summit today and will announce a broad range of advances including its much-anticipated 1121-qubit Condor QPU, a smaller 133-qu Read more…

  • arrow
  • Click Here for More Headlines
  • arrow
HPCwire