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  4. Procurement: HPC A1 (Fram)

Procurement: HPC A1 (Fram)

In 2016 Sigma2 and the four oldest universities arranged procurement process for a new HPC system and new storage infrastructure. The HPC system Fram has been installed at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø and started production October 2017.

HPC A1 Pre-study 

The pre-study for the procurement project was organized with different technical working groups consisting of experts in various technical fields and a reference group looking after the researchers' and universities' interests.

  • Notur technical group
  • NorStore technical group
  • Housing Group
  • Reference group

A survey has been sent to all current Notur and Norstore projects, but also to potential new user communities, asking them for their requirements to future e-infrastructure and services.  Meetings have also been conducted with research communities to inform them about the plans and elicit more information from the user communities.
 

Board Decisions

September 2015:
The Board of Sigma2 has decided that the number of HPC systems shall be reduced from four to two.

Market research for external housing providers
Researchers in Norway currently have four HPC facilities available, one system located at each of the four oldest universities in Norway (UiO, UiB, UiT and NTNU). The Board of Sigma2 has decided that the number of HPC systems shall be reduced from four to two. UNINETT Sigma2 will therefore conduct market research for external providers, examining the consequences of the following scenarios:

  • Shared location of the HPC facilities between two of the four universities
  • Shared location of the HPC facilities between one of the universities and one external vendor.
  • All HPC facilities are located at an external vendor.

October 2015:
The Board of Sigma2 agrees that A1 + NorStore should be located at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, provided that it invests 5 million in cooling. Locating B1 +NorStore requires a new assessment regarding whether the best location is at UiB or NTNU or external. The Board asks the administration to submit a request to UiB and NTNU on revised rates for placement of B1 and NorStore.

An external procurement of housing with a fixed maximum price shall be initiated. If such a price is obtained, B1 + NorStore will be located externally and subsequently A2.
 

Press Release