NeSI's investments

Attribution: 

NeSI’s investments in advanced research computing are driven by and co-designed with research communities.

Attribution: 

NeSI’s new platforms provide a significant increase in capacity for the research sector. Use of NeSI has increased over time, and the new platforms provide significant headroom for broadened sector uptake and growth in use in the years to come.

On the 7th of November 2018, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Megan Woods officially opened the new High Performance Computing Facility for New Zealand hosted by NeSI and NIWA. The facility is comprised of three new interconnected supercomputers, two of which are supported by and available through NeSI to meet the needs of New Zealand researchers to investigate scientific issues of national significance.

Consolidated, highly-integrated, and fit-for-purpose, this new infrastructure was co-designed with key stakeholders following an assessment of national research needs. It lifts NeSI’s maturity in key ecosystem areas, especially those related to research data, in research platforms and virtual labs, and in security. The new platform represents a culmination of years of collaborative work, led by NeSI with its investors, to coordinate its procurement, design, and launch. All researchers in New Zealand have access to these specialised high performance computing (HPC) resources, including tailored software environments and data management services, and skills training in computational research tools and approaches.

In terms of available core hours, NeSI’s new platforms provide a significant increase in capacity for the research sector. Use of NeSI has increased over time, and the new platforms provide significant headroom for broadened sector uptake and growth in use in the years to come.

“This marks a step change for science in New Zealand and a further advancement towards an innovative, future-focused society. The supercomputers are a significant upgrade with 10 times the computing capability of their predecessor. This will have a whole range of benefits for scientific research, including better understanding issues around climate change, genomics, the management of New Zealand’s freshwater assets and resilience to natural hazards.”
_{Dr. Megan Woods, Research, Science and Innovation Minister}