Cray Shasta Supercomputer to help Advance use of AI at Indiana University

Cray Inc., Global supercomputer leader recently announced that Indiana University (IU) of state of Indiana has chosen a Cray Shasta supercomputing system to advance and spread the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) amongst different research fields.

The announcement also noted that Indiana University will be the first ever university to deploy a total of three systems which include a Shasta system, the Cray Slingshot™ interconnect and Cray Urika® AI Suite for Shasta.

These systems will provide the engineers, researchers and scientists of IU powerful resources, which will be a contribution for the next era of computing. The new supercomputer named “Big Red 200”, will be contributory in IU’s exploration and advancement of AI amongst various fields.

Cray Inc. is a corporation whose motive is to combine computation and creativity so that visionaries can keep asking questions that challenge the limit of possibility.

Executive Opinion

VP for information technology and CIO at Indiana University, Brad Wheeler said, “The new Cray Shasta system is a necessary addition to support Indiana University’s future research endeavors in solving some of the most pressing challenges facing the people of Indiana and our world. We’ve entered an age where AI is poised to transform the future of many industries–from healthcare to cybersecurity–and we’re confident the latest technology from Cray will meet our needs for a computing infrastructure that will build on the promise of AI in Indiana. AI brings a whole new level of insight to our researchers and with Big Red 200, we look forward to uncovering more ways we can use AI to solve societal challenges, scientific queries and further education.”

CEO at Cray, Peter Ungaro said, “We’re honored to partner with Indiana University and support their critical AI research program. Big Red 200 is a shining example of how the same technology in our new Shasta supercomputer architecture that powers the world’s largest exascale systems can be put to work in the University’s datacenter to meet their research objectives. With a Cray Shasta system Indiana University is equipped with a unique solution that blends the best of supercomputing and cloud technologies to help them achieve breakthrough results in AI.”

Big Red 200 and Applications

Big Red 200 was named to celebrate the completion of 200 years of the famed university. Big Red 200 will be replacing its predecessor the “Big Red II”, a Cray XK7 supercomputer.  The new supercomputer comes with many high-performance computing capabilities, including 2nd gen AMD EPYCTM processors.

The new Cray Shasta supercomputer will work as a base for researchers to improve and advance the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across different-different research areas. The announcement also listed Precision Health, Prepared for Environmental Change, and Responding to Addictions Crisis as IU’s three Grand Challenges initiatives. The IU plans to use new Cray Shasta supercomputer to solve those Grand Challenges, says the announcement.