Increasingly, HPC is moving into the mainstream. According to recent research the HPC market is expected to grow from 28.08bn USD in 2015 to 36.62bn USD by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.45 per cent. Traditionally, end users have been researchers, engineers, scientists, educational institutes and healthcare professionals but the growth of IoT combined with the emergence of virtual reality now means that HPC is becoming more readily embraced by the enterprise.
In light of this, McCulloch suggests that HPC is creating new challenges for data centre operators who will actively need to enhance their facilities in order to support this new business reality. To achieve this, significant investment is likely to be critical:
“Organisation’s are being forced to carry and process unprecedented volumes of data, whether it be social, mobile, analytics or cloud, and as a result of this we are seeing a greater emphasis placed on the need for HPC environments.
“To capture this, data centre providers are increasingly being asked to support denser configurations through power and cooling requirements that are able to outstrip the capabilities of traditional mechanical and electrical infrastructures. But for a lot of data centre facilities they simply are unable to accommodate this, largely because they were designed when these modern densities and configurations did not exist and as a result action is needed to accommodate growing demand for high performance computing.
“The challenge therefore, for a lot of data centre providers is going to be the costs involved in upgrading a facility to accommodate HPC - this is likely to represent a significant CAPEX expense and is typically hindered by space and infrastructure boundaries. For a lot of firms in this position an often more viable option is building an entirely new site, but again this can only be achieved through significant investment and therefore we are seeing a lot of providers reaching a crossroads as to where to take their operations.”
McCulloch continued: “The emergence of new technology trends such as big data, IoT and virtual reality demonstrates the increased reliance we are placing on the data centre and therefore it is imperative actions are taken to ensure its future.
“By having the necessary data halls, which are able to deliver the high density power and cooling required for the next generation of platforms such as HPC, customers can be reassured that the right capabilities are in place to grow their estates. But in order for this to be successful it can’t be at the expense of the mid-range market. Focusing an entire site on HPC will considerably limit your customer base and therefore it is imperative that any investment is still able to account for traditional mission-critical applications as well as increased customer demand for dense configurations - by doing so you will significantly enhance your ability to future-proof your facility.”
