Notice Details

IT Services is upgrading its high-performance computing (HPC) cluster to provide enhanced resource for research activities at the University.

This work begins in late April 2025 and will continue for approximately 3 weeks. There may be some service disruptions during the transition period, but every effort will be made to keep these to a minimum. Affected staff and students will be kept informed via the HPC-USERS mailing list (to join, send an email using your University account to hpc-users-subscribe-request@liverpool.ac.uk).

What is a HPC cluster?
A high-performance computing (HPC) cluster is a system that connects multiple computers (nodes) to work together as a single, powerful computing resource. It is designed to handle computationally intensive tasks such as scientific simulations, engineering computations, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analysis, and genomic sequencing.

HPC clusters use parallel computing to distribute workloads across multiple computer processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs), significantly reducing processing time for complex computations.

They provide a pre-configured software stack with essential tools, workload schedulers, and management utilities, enabling users to run large-scale computations effectively.

What are the benefits of using a HPC cluster?
A robust high-performance computing (HPC) cluster is indispensable for research-intensive universities such as the University of Liverpool. By upgrading our current Barkla HPC cluster, we strive to maintain our competitiveness, drive innovation, and propel knowledge advancement across diverse fields. This upgrade will achieve the following:

• Enablement of complex research: Supports large-scale simulations, AI/ML workloads, and computationally demanding studies
  
  
• Enhancement of research competitiveness: Provides cutting-edge computing power to tackle modern research challenges
  
  
• Facilitation of inter-disciplinary and global collaboration: Strengthens collaboration from multiple disciplines and researchers worldwide
  
  
• Support Big Data analysis: Crucial for processing and analysing vast datasets in fields such as bioinformatics, physics, and finance
  
  
• Empowerment of education & training: Helps students and researchers develop computational skills for advanced scientific work
  
  
• Catalyst for technology transfer and innovation: Accelerates the adoption of HPC-driven solutions in industry and academia.

What do I need to do?
Research staff and students, and those impacted by the new HPC cluster, will be informed through the HPC-USERS mailing list. Please be sure to read these emails to ensure a smooth transition and maximise the benefits of the upgraded system.

If you’re interested in finding out more about HPC at the University, please visit the Research IT website.

IT Services Service announcements