Improving High-Performance Computing (HPC) Environment in Azure
A global leader in elite genetics and biotechnology turned to the Azure experts at Oakwood Systems Group in St. Louis, MO to rethink how to better deliver relevant and timely data to their customers through their High-Performance Computing (HPC) environment.
ST. LOUIS, April 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Recently, the Oakwood Team had the opportunity to work on an incredibly unique project involving a leader in elite genetics and biotechnology serving farmers around the globe. The data they provide to livestock owners is critical in helping them breed better quality animals while finding efficiencies in the production process. This project involved working with the client in rethinking how to better deliver relevant and timely data to their customers through a high-performance computing environment.
Genetics is inherently complex and involves a massive amount of mathematical calculations. The client needed to ensure that these calculations are reliable and accurate to meet the demanding needs of their customers. Producing this data manually in a reasonable amount of time is simply not possible. As such, the client relies on computations that are performed by large computer clusters.
This genetic testing puts a lot of strain on the client's computer resources. The client had a high-performance computing (HPC) environment set up to handle their genetic testing requirements. Improving this environment would help farmers around the world breed better animals.
The client was looking for ways to improve their computing environment, as well as migrate some of their data to Azure. They needed to find an expert well-versed in cloud migrations that could handle complex data requirements.
Oakwood was able to work directly with Microsoft specialists to overcome difficulties they ran into throughout this project. The Oakwood team worked with Microsoft to modify both Lustre and Slurm templates. Microsoft even dedicated their own resources in writing custom scripts with this project in mind.
The Microsoft specialists were more than happy to assist with this project. The specialists were excited to use their tools in a live environment. Oakwood team members would break the tools, such as Slurm, and then work with the Microsoft team to fix it. Microsoft was a key supporter in this project.
Oakwood's client has seen tremendous performance improvements and is still working with Oakwood on expanding the performance and functionality of this complex environment. The newly implemented system is more sustainable and workable than their on-premises systems. The client can automatically build and run entire HPC clusters to run genetic tests. Their team can achieve a two-gigabyte throughput using Lustre as backend storage.
The client has to perform less day-to-day management of their systems as compared to before.
Azure has freed up significant computer resources for the client. The client has more redundancy and backup than ever before. Overall, this customer is better able to meet the needs of their customers by using their new HPC environment.
The improvements that Oakwood was able to deliver is clearly apparent to the client. Oakwood plans to continue to work on business intelligence, as well as data and reporting functions. The client and Oakwood plan to use the lessons learned from this project on future high-performance computing clusters and data center deployments.
Since 1981 the Oakwood Team has been helping organizations of all sizes, across all industries, solve their most complex technology-related challenges. Our longevity has allowed us to evolve and sharpen our delivery approach(es) to help guarantee better business outcomes for our clients.
Oakwood Systems Group is a Microsoft Partner holding 8 Gold Competencies and 6 Silver Competencies. With over 40 years in business combined with several Microsoft Partner of The Year awards under their belt, Oakwood delivers complex technology solutions on-time and on-budget.
Media Contact
Tim Haaksma, Oakwood Systems Group, 1 3148243000, [email protected]
SOURCE Oakwood Systems Group
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