RES (Renewable Energy Systems) is one of the world’s largest independent renewable energy companies, active in wind, solar, energy storage, transmission, and distribution. Their services include climate modelling to determine best locations, negotiating real estate acquisitions, designing and manufacturing the associated turbines and solar panels, and deploying products with full grid integration.
LR originally managed its High-Performance Computing (HPC) needs with four racks in its data centre, comprising approximately 120 cores and 2 terabytes of RAM. Despite having an experienced outsourced team managing this setup for about a decade, a change in strategy from the provider reduced their focus on HPC support solutions. This is where Red Oak Consulting stepped in.
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), a leading UK university recognised for its multi-disciplinary research and commitment to innovation, sought to expand its high-performance computing capabilities to meet the growing demands of data-intensive research, foster cross-departmental collaboration, and empower students and faculty to pursue cutting-edge projects.
A ground-breaking first, with the Met Office making the strategic decision to transition to the Cloud with the aim to fully implement Cloud-native HPC on the Microsoft platform. Red Oak Consulting’s efforts led to a transformative shift in strategy for the Met Office. As a result, the agency awarded the Cloud contract to Microsoft, making it the first UK government organisation (and one of the pioneers globally) to adopt a Cloud-based HPC system for weather and climate modelling and forecasting.
Processes That Matter At Red Oak I have had the privilege of working with numerous organisations to assist with expanding their HPC footprint into the cloud. With an ever-evolving set of resource types available from cloud providers, technical implementation is rarely the issue. Instead, defining the practical processes and governance through which the HPC service … 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
Azure Batch, or Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Choosing the right platform for computational workloads is a business decision that impacts scalability, cost, and operational efficiency. Azure offers three powerful options for different use cases: Azure CycleCloud, Azure Batch, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Each tool has distinct strengths and suitability for specific types of workloads. This … Read more
Having assisted with the management of a number of cloud HPC systems over the last few years, I have noticed several cost components that are often overlooked. On the other hand, customers may have some difficulty keeping control of the more obvious costs. In this article, with a focus on cloud HPC deployments, I hope … Read more
Customising Your Cluster CycleCloud is a powerful tool for orchestrating and managing clusters of Virtual Machines (VMs) on Azure. Whether you are planning your own infrastructure or using the new Azure CycleCloud Workspace for Slurm, there are multiple ways to deploy and configure CycleCloud. After deploying your CycleCloud host and creating a cluster using one of … Read more
How Sustainable is the Cloud? Sustainability is one of the hottest topics at the board table. Most organisations have a minimum commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050, and many have more ambitious goals. HPC has a challenging relationship with sustainability, on one hand, it uses a lot of power and space, on the other … Read more
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