Located within the Mathematics and Computer building (MC) at the University of Waterloo is one of Canada’s most advanced digital research computing systems. The recently upgraded system, called Nibi, has taken the place of the Graham supercomputer.
This powerful setup boasts over 700 nodes and 140,000 CPU cores, enabling Nibi to handle numerous computational tasks at once. It ranks among the top 500 research computing systems worldwide.
“Nibi’s launch represents a defining moment for Canada’s digital research infrastructure,” said Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. “It equips our researchers with the advanced computing power they need to push the boundaries of discovery, strengthen our economy, and lead on the global stage. With its cutting-edge, energy-efficient design, Nibi is not only supporting today’s transformative projects, it is laying the foundation for the next generation of Canadian innovation from coast to coast to coast.”
“Nibi is like having 35,000 desktop computers working together,” said John Morton (BMath ’94), who serves as Technology Director for SHARCNET and leads technical efforts on the Graham cluster. “Utilizing that power facilitates groundbreaking research through batch computing, storage, visualization, GPU acceleration, cloud VMs, DBaa S and more being available to support Canadian research.”
While data centers are known for high energy consumption, those who designed Nibi aimed to minimize cooling costs using state-of-the-art technology. This system employs water instead of air for better efficiency and sustainability. Instead of paying to remove heat generated by high-performance computing processes, this heat is captured and reused to warm up the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre.
To honor this sustainable method, designers consulted with local Indigenous communities and chose to name the system Nibi. The word means water in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe).
Nibi offers GPU-equipped nodes each containing eight H100 Nvidia GPUs tailored for large AI models. With over 25 Petabytes of entirely flash-based storage space available, Nibi enhances performance and reliability compared to previous storage solutions.
“Ontario is home to some of the brightest researchers in the world who are driving Ontario’s key industries forward,” stated Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “Through Compute Ontario, our government is proud to support the University of Waterloo’s innovative supercomputer so that researchers have access to essential tools needed for significant advancements in science, medicine, and technology-helping save lives across our province.”
Since 2017, Nibi has supported thousands of researchers from various universities aiming to advance innovation within science , medicine , and technology. As a participant in SHARCNET-a multi-university consortium located in Ontario-Nibi expects to assist over 4 ,000 researchers annually.
“At Waterloo, we’re excited about collaborating with our funding partners along with other research teams working towards fostering Canadian innovation,” says Charmaine Dean , vice-president Research & International at Waterloo.“Nibi opens doors allowing researchers throughout Canada opportunities they might not have had before-continuing Waterloo’s tradition as a leader in computation.”
The University holds a rich history concerning computers dating back many years ago. Thanks largely due pioneering minds like Don Cowan & Wes Graham-the institution became first across Canada housing most powerful computer available during its time. The IBM 360 /75 was model used by NASA when sending astronauts onto Moon !
Since then, WATERLOO CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY IN COMPUTING. To ensure staying ahead , UW RESEARCHERS COLLABORATE CLOSELY WITH DIVERSE PARTNERSHIPS. Funding comes via Innovation Science & Economic Development administered through Digital Research Alliance OF CANADA AS WELL AS MINISTRY OF COLLEGES UNIVERSITIES RESEARCH EXCELLENCE SECURITY THROUGH COMPUTE ONTARIO.
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“Ontario is home to some of the brightest researchers in the world who are driving Ontario’s key industries forward,” stated Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “Through Compute Ontario, our government is proud to support the University of Waterloo’s innovative supercomputer so that researchers have access to essential tools needed for significant advancements in science, medicine, and technology-helping save lives across our province.”
Since 2017, Nibi has supported thousands of researchers from various universities aiming to advance innovation within science , medicine , and technology. As a participant in SHARCNET-a multi-university consortium located in Ontario-Nibi expects to assist over 4 ,000 researchers annually.
“At Waterloo, we’re excited about collaborating with our funding partners along with other research teams working towards fostering Canadian innovation,” says Charmaine Dean , vice-president Research & International at Waterloo.“Nibi opens doors allowing researchers throughout Canada opportunities they might not have had before-continuing Waterloo’s tradition as a leader in computation.”
The University holds a rich history concerning computers dating back many years ago. Thanks largely due pioneering minds like Don Cowan & Wes Graham-the institution became first across Canada housing most powerful computer available during its time. The IBM 360 /75 was model used by NASA when sending astronauts onto Moon !
Since then, WATERLOO CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY IN COMPUTING. To ensure staying ahead , UW RESEARCHERS COLLABORATE CLOSELY WITH DIVERSE PARTNERSHIPS. Funding comes via Innovation Science & Economic Development administered through Digital Research Alliance OF CANADA AS WELL AS MINISTRY OF COLLEGES UNIVERSITIES RESEARCH EXCELLENCE SECURITY THROUGH COMPUTE ONTARIO.Source link
