Nokia & Hypertec power new Nibi supercomputer in Canada

Nokia and Hypertec have completed the deployment of the Nibi supercomputing cluster at the University of Waterloo, adding new computing infrastructure to the SHARCNET research network.

The companies said the system will serve more than 4,000 researchers a year. They linked the project to research programmes in health, climate science, engineering and artificial intelligence.

Nibi becomes part of SHARCNET, the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Network. SHARCNET provides high-performance computing resources to researchers across Canada through a consortium model.

SHARCNET Network

SHARCNET includes 19 academic partner institutions. It describes itself as the largest high-performance computing consortium in Canada by number of institutions. SHARCNET said its resources are available to any Canadian academic researchers, beyond the partner group.

Nibi marks Nokia's first deployment in North America of what the company described as this class of AI-HPC data centre networking. Nokia said the project adds to its footprint in Canada.

Hypertec acted as system architect and prime integrator for the deployment. Nokia supplied its Data Centre Fabric and IP networking components, according to the companies.

The deployment also included immersion cooling technology from Hypertec. The companies described immersion cooling and networking fabric performance as central factors in the implementation.

Ethernet Shift

SHARCNET said Nibi involves a move to an Ethernet-based interconnect. The organisation linked the change to its requirements for the new system.

"With the Nibi supercomputer, we made the move to an Ethernet-based interconnect, and the combined solution delivered by Hypertec and Nokia proved to be a perfect fit. Nokia's performance networking combined with Hypertec's system integration expertise gives our research community the scalability, reliability, and performance needed to support a wide range of demanding workloads," said John Morton - Director of Technology at SHARCNET.

The University of Waterloo framed the deployment as an expansion of its computational research capacity. The university said the project connects its researchers with new infrastructure and networking.

"The Nibi supercomputer significantly expands Waterloo's capacity to support advanced computational research. By working with Nokia and Hypertec, we gain access to world-class AI and high-performance computing infrastructure that combines scalable system design with high-performance Ethernet networking, advancing the next generation of Canadian research and reinforcing Waterloo's long-standing leadership in computation," said Charmaine Dean, Vice-President, Research and Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Waterloo.

Canadian Build

Hypertec positioned the project as an example of Canada's ability to build and deploy AI and high-performance computing systems. The company said it works with universities, enterprises and governments on AI workloads in multiple markets.

"This collaboration with Nokia proves that Canada can design and deploy AI and high-performance computing infrastructure at the highest global standards. Hypertec works with universities, enterprises and governments around the world on the most demanding AI workloads. Bringing that capability to SHARCNET gives Canadian researchers truly world-class infrastructure and strengthens Canada's competitiveness in advancing research and AI," said Mike Marracino, President, Hypertec Solutions Partner.

Nokia also linked the system to its research and industry presence in the country. The company pointed to its Nokia Canada operation and its existing investment footprint.

"This project will be key to maintaining Canada's global leadership in computer science and innovation in the AI era. This is a very important day for Nokia Canada, and we are looking forward to more exciting joint projects with Hypertec Group, SHARCNET and the University of Waterloo," said Jeff Maddox, President of Nokia Canada.

Technology Stack

Nokia described its Data Centre Fabric as a data centre switching platform for AI workloads. The company said the product uses a network operating system and an automation-led approach to operations. Nokia also said it fits into existing data centre ecosystems and processes.

Nokia said its presence in Canada includes more than 2,700 employees nationwide. The company traced its roots in the country to Newbridge Networks and later Alcatel and Alcatel-Lucent, before becoming part of Nokia in 2016.

Nokia also referenced a planned next-generation campus site in Ottawa at Kanata North Tech Park. The company said the campus will cover nearly 750,000 square feet. Nokia linked the site to research and development work across connectivity, data centre networks, quantum-safe infrastructure and 6G.

The companies did not disclose financial terms for the Nibi deployment. They also did not provide technical specifications for the cluster's compute accelerators or overall performance.

Nokia and Hypertec said they expect further joint projects with SHARCNET and the University of Waterloo.