Joe Lombardo – Executive Director of National Supercomputing Center for Energy and Environment, UNLV John White – EVP and Provost, UNLV | Don Snyder – UNLV President | Bryan Wolfe – VP, Managing Director, Intel Capital Rob Roy – CEO and Founder, Switch | Charlie Wuischpard – VP, Intel | Dr. Mark Seager – CTO, Intel Martin Leslie – Business Development Manager, Intel | Jason Mendenhall – EVP of Cloud, SUPERNAP
Intel’s “Cherry Creek” supercomputer brings world-class computing power to UNLV; Switch SUPERNAP to lead high-tech industry partnerships.
Las Vegas, Nevada – Wednesday, September 17, 2014 – Tech industry leaders Switch SUPERNAP and Intel are working together with UNLV to bring one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to Las Vegas.
UNLV was recently awarded the use of the Intel “Cherry Creek” supercomputer, which ranks among the world’s fastest and most powerful supercomputers for its combination of speed, power, and energy efficiency. Housed in Switch’s Las Vegas SUPERNAP data center and available to UNLV researchers through SUPERNAP’s unique connectivity network, the “Cherry Creek” supercomputer gives the university and its research partners access to world-class computing power and will act as a catalyst for scientific discovery, the modernization of applications, and regional economic development efforts.
Complicated analyses that once took years can now be completed in days, advancing fields such as genomics and bioinformatics, medical and climate research, molecular modeling, and data analytics. Thanks to its placement at the Switch SUPERNAP, Cherry Creek will allow UNLV researchers to share data with collaborators across the globe.
“Supercomputers have become an indispensable part of almost every industry. For university researchers, they’ve increased the speed of analysis and discovery exponentially,” said UNLV President Donald Snyder. “Working together with Intel and Switch, UNLV has a tremendous opportunity not only to keep pace with but to play a leading role in big data research and economic development partnerships that require high-performance computing.”
The companies will also encourage public-private interactions to accelerate innovation and advance regional economic development. Private companies need access to the high-level computing power of supercomputers and the expertise of the UNLV team that uses them, so a portion of the computer’s space will be reserved for private sector investment in university research through partnerships with UNLV and Switch SUPERNAP.
“Cherry Creek was the first Top 500 class supercomputer featured at a supercomputing event, showcasing the efforts by Intel and our partners in driving unprecedented efficiency gains and accessibility that were not previously possible,” said Hugo Saleh, Director of Marketing and Industry Development, Intel Technical Computing Group. “These benefits are achieved using the combination of generally available Xeon processors, Xeon Phi Coprocessors, and True Scale Fabric which enable efficient application scaling. We are excited
to embark on this partnership with Switch and UNLV and look forward to the advancements in code parallelization and the groundbreaking scientific results that will be achieved.”
In addition to research and private collaborations, Intel experts will also engage with students in IT-related fields through guest lectures and academic programming, helping UNLV graduates to compete in the evolving tech industry.
“The SUPERNAP executive team is pleased to be donating the services to UNLV for this effort. We understand how important this scientific research will be for economic development in the region,” said Rob Roy, CEO and Founder of Switch SUPERNAP. “The SUPERNAP ecosystem will accelerate the development of new technology and provide the necessary industry relationships to advance UNLV’s efforts.”
Cherry Creek is a welcome addition to the strong computing arsenal of UNLV’s National Supercomputing Center for Energy and the Environment (NSCEE), a full-service facility founded in 1991 that supports researchers on campus and across the nation. UNLV staff will maintain and optimize Cherry Creek, schedule time and use for UNLV and partner researchers, and will work closely with technical experts from Intel and Switch SUPERNAP to update the supercomputer as new technology becomes available.
“Having access to this technology will enhance and expand UNLV’s current research programs and will act as a catalyst for new emerging research interests such as big data analytics,” said Joseph Lombardo, Executive Director of NSCEE. “Additionally, having this special resource will enhance the educational experience for a diverse set of top-quality graduate and undergraduate students
while playing an important role in faculty recruitment.”
About Switch SUPERNAP
Switch is the super-scale technology solutions company led by inventor and solutionist Rob Roy. As Founder and CEO he holds 218 patents and patents pending that have produced an essential revolution in data center architecture, engineering, technology and operations. His vision also resulted in the creation of CORE, the only $3 trillion telecommunications purchasing cooperative in the
world and the highly respected “Truth in Technology” operating ideology.
The Switch award winning Tier IV Gold SUPERNAP data centers are the recognized world leader in colocation design, development and mission critical operations. Explore the SUPERNAP or schedule a tour at supernap.com.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. As a leader in company responsibility and sustainability, Intel also manufactures the world’s first commercially available “conflict-free” microprocessors. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com and about Intel’s conflict-free efforts at conflictfree.intel.com.
About UNLV
UNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution of more than 27,000 students and 2,900 faculty and staff. Founded in 1957, the university offers more than 220 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs. UNLV is located on a 332-acre campus in dynamic Southern Nevada and is classified in the category the Advancement of Teaching.