EMGS opens top-10 cluster in Europe using Dell Blades

Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting Dave Marmonti, Dell’s President of EMEA, at the opening of our client EMGS’s new server cluster in Trondheim. The EMGS cluster, used for data processing and modeling, contains 1800 servers and holds the same amount of power as 20,000 high-tech PCs with a total memory of 22 terabytes, yielding an amazing 70 teraflops. This is currently the most powerful cluster in Norway, and a top-10 cluster in Europe, measured in teraflops.

Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) has developed a new technology that has made it possible to search and locate oil in places were oil companies previously have concluded that there is no oil to be found. To transform electromagnetic signals into valuable information, powerful calculations are needed. And this is where Dell contributes with our PowerEdge 1955 servers.

My favorite points from Dave during the opening were how Norway and the rest of the Nordic region are exciting and important markets for Dell. Not only is Norway renowned as an oil nation with much of Europe using oil and gas from the region to fuel their economy/growth; but the Norwegian government is committed to its environment and is therefore an advocate of Green IT. As I’m sure the readers of this blog know, Green IT is a key priority for Dell and many of our customers and partners, including EMGS.

It took just two months from when the decision to buy the first stage of the cluster was made by EMGS, to when the cluster was finished. This is a very short time for such a large machine. The units were delivered 7-10 days after order, with the first 530 units produced in Ireland and then transported by a trailer truck to Trondheim.

The team in Norway is very proud of this project and I’m very happy for them. The cluster is an exclusive Dell project, and our employees have led the work on the cluster from the planning, through implementation and support, and we’re looking forward to a continuing partnership with EMGS on this groundbreaking project for Norway.

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Michael Jacobs, Norwegian GM and Dave Marmonti in the EMGS cluster. Look at all those blades!

About the Author: Hans Seime