Partnering to deliver next-generation cloud, data and AI solutions that empower Aotearoa's research sector
New Zealand eScience Infrastructure (NeSI) is refreshing its technology platform to ensure Aotearoa's national eResearch infrastructure and services are more accessible, responsive, and flexible to the needs of researchers.
NeSI, together with Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland; Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo, University of Otago; and Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, is partnering broadly with technology providers to deliver next-generation compute, storage, and software solutions for modern day science.
The $3.5 million investment will update NeSI's existing services as well as unlock capabilities beyond traditional high performance computing (HPC) to empower a growing community of researchers, research software engineers and developers, and research IT teams.
NeSI announced its successful vendors – Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE), Xenon, Sempre, and Dell, as well as other auxiliary partners - at eResearch NZ 2024 and will be sharing more details in the coming weeks of what's planned.
"Across our research communities – from groups working in precision health, to climate science, to materials development – we're seeing a diversity of computational and data management needs driving demand for a richer array of services. We are developing and evolving our roadmaps and capabilities in response, integrating partnership-led approaches – whakawhanaungatanga – that explore new modes of work and support broader access to advanced research tools," says Nick Jones, Director of NeSI. "With new partners coming to the table through our infrastructure refresh, we're looking forward to what this enables for how we power the future of eResearch and the future of computational and AI capabilities in the country."
This new investment builds upon NeSI's existing HPC platform and complements its Flexible High Performance Cloud, a multi-tenant, cloud-native platform that supports high-performance workloads, research data collaboration, and maximizes opportunities for shared investment and benefits at a national scale.
If you'd like to learn more about NeSI's capabilities and plans in this space, please get in touch. Over the coming months, we'll be sharing more details on the technical components and the timeline for bringing the new platform online.
Hear what our vendor partners are saying about this exciting investment to support wider science impact in Aotearoa New Zealand:
Attribution:
“HPE is thrilled to have secured a continued partnership with NeSI in the latest RFP acquisition. This win reflects our commitment to forging impactful connections with key research facilities in New Zealand and contributing to the innovations of this nation.”
Colin Henderson, Managing Director, Hewlett Packard Enterprise NZ
“XENON Systems is delighted to be selected by NeSI for its recent infrastructure procurement project. Together with other projects already underway we will have some 200PB of storage under long term management. We look forward to building our relationship to meet the demanding challenges of New Zealand’s research community.”
Dragan Dimitrovici, CEO, XENON Systems Pty Ltd.
“It’s a pleasure to be working with NeSI on this project, and Sempre is looking forward to supporting NeSI with the evolution of this nationally critical infrastructure. We’re honoured to be part of building a platform for the future which is key to supporting the NZ research community.”
Antony Bridle, Director, Sempre
“NeSI enables New Zealand scientists across a wide range of communities and disciplines to access and utilise vastly superior computing power. Dell Technologies is looking forward to partnering with Sempre and NeSI to build a platform for the future supporting the NZ research community.”
David Siroky, Director, Systems Engineering APJ, Dell Technologies
“We are proud that New Zealand eScience Infrastructure (NeSI), has chosen WEKA as their data platform for AI and HPC. Our collaboration and partnership is set to modernise their high-performance computing storage environment, delivering extreme performance to researchers in New Zealand. WEKA is committed to providing cutting-edge solutions that empower our clients, and we're excited to see the impact our platform will have on accelerating research and innovation. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with NeSI, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in high-performance computing and AI.”
Fred White, Sales Manager Australia and New Zealand, WEKA
"Versity is honored to have been chosen as the long term data management platform for NeSI. We are excited to embark on this journey together, enhancing NeSI’s data management capabilities and improving their core infrastructure with Versity’s world class mass storage solution."
Bruce Gilpin, CEO, Versity
