Buying High-Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure is not like picking out a new laptop. It is a strategic decision, one that can shape an organisation’s ability to innovate, compete, and grow. But with that strategic weight comes complexity, and with complexity often comes hesitation. Long, drawn-out decision cycles are common. That is where a great supplier, with … Read more
After a successful proof-of-concept (PoC) phase, the natural next key milestone is a pilot deployment. But have you ever wondered why many pilot projects stall before becoming operational? In this post, we’ll walk through the essential stages, questions, and best practices for running a production-grade Cloud HPC Pilot following a successful PoC. A pilot bridges … Read more
Why These Teams Must Stop Working in Silos When I speak to people in sustainability roles, I often hear about the battles they face with finance teams. The conversations rarely go well, and in many companies, the inability to get finance on board becomes a major roadblock to securing top-level buy-in. I lead something of … Read more
Introduction Last year, I was faced with a user issue that initially confused me. A user running open-source CFD software told me they had installed the same software on their laptop, and it was running much faster on their 8-core workstation compared to a 120-core HPC-optimised machine on a cloud HPC cluster. Could we have … Read more
Innovation, Efficiency, and a Few Thousand Steps In our pre-ISC blog, we looked ahead with excitement at what ISC 2025 might bring. Now, with the event behind us (and our feet finally recovering), it’s time to reflect on what turned out to be a packed, insightful, and energising few days in Hamburg. Vendor Showdown … Read more
My Journey to ISC 2025 As a Senior HPC Managed Services Specialist at Red Oak Consulting, I ensure that large-scale computing environments operate seamlessly and efficiently for our customers. My work revolves around operations, optimisation, and continuity in high-performance computing. This year, I’m thrilled to attend ISC 2025 in Hamburg — my first foray into … Read more
Introduction A common topic during many of our projects is the sizing of a HPC cluster. More specifically, we often come across clusters which we can loosely characterise as having a low average utilisation. This may be an intentional design point or an artifact of over procurement or oversizing. Reasons why an oversized cluster may … Read more
Saving the Planet, One Algorithm at a Time! You all know I love high-performance computing, but recently I’ve been thinking a lot about something even more important: our planet! As I walk around the office observing our brilliant consultants at work, I’ve been pondering how AI can be a superhero in the fight for sustainability. … Read more
The Accessible World of HPC Supercomputers sure do grab headlines and solve some of the world’s largest problems, but being on the TOP500 is not all that High-Performance Computing (HPC) is about. The truth is, HPC isn’t reserved for national laboratories or tech giants. It’s a practical efficiency solution that’s transforming how organisations of all … Read more
Introduction It’s mid-2013 and I have just graduated with a physics degree. I really enjoyed the theoretical component, but the computational and experimental labs were rather uninspiring. I still wanted to do something more practical, with foreseeable benefits, but I was also afraid of specialising myself into oblivion. A few months of speculative emails and … Read more
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