KAUST’s Shaheen II supercomputer, the fifteenth fastest supercomputer in the world, has begun operating at maximum capacity thanks to an upgrade in its data center. Shaheen II users will now experience a 20% increase in computing capacity that will help them accelerate their discoveries, and give them a competitive advantage.
Shaheen II has been in service for 18-months and has already provided more than 1 billion CPU hours to the KAUST research community and collaborators in the Kingdom. Before the upgrade, Shaheen II’s capacity was capped at about 80% of its maximum because of limited power and cooling capacity in the data center. The upgrades have increased the water flow rate and temperature difference across the heat exchanger, resulting in improved efficiency of the cooling loop. In addition, electrical equipment was installed to provide all 36 Cray XC-40 cabinets with adequate power.
We would like to recognize the tremendous collaboration that has lead to the Supercomputing Core Lab reaching this important milestone. Thank you to KAUST Information Technology, Engineering & Project Management, and University Support Services. Thank you also to our industry collaborators Cray and HAPCO for your role in the upgrades.
The Supercomputing Core Lab is committed to maintaining industry-leading computing infrastructure. Planning for the next upgrade of Shaheen II is already in progress and is targeted for the end of next year.