Inside ENI Green Data Center with the new HPC6 supercomputing

ENI boosts the Green Data Centre in Ferrera Erbognone with the new HPC6 supercomputing system supplied by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among the most powerful in the world. In fact, HPC6 will raise the computing capacity from the 70 PFlop/s of HPC4 and HPC5 to over 600 PFlop/s peak, equal to about 600 million billion complex mathematical operations per second. Supporting this is the Nesite raised floor, with an ultra-high performance system for extreme load bearing requirements.

HPC6 ENI, TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENERGY INNOVATION

Since its launch, the ENI Green Data Centre has been ranked as a world-class centre of excellence in terms of energy efficiency. Among the challenges overcome, the one that stands out is that of consumption and the cooling system, which is fundamental to the Centre’s efficiency. To this purpose, for at least 92% of the time, the GDC operates with a cooling system called freecooling, either total or partial. This particular system regulates the temperature using only outdoor air, which is supplied by filtering 3,000 kilograms per year of dust to protect the computing equipment.

With the implementation of the new HPC6, ENI is pursuing the path of digital and energy innovation, with the aim to ensure the lowest possible environmental impact. The new supercomputer will in fact be installed in a dedicated area, equipped with an advanced liquid cooling system for even more sustainable and efficient operation.

The system also includes 3472 computing nodes, incorporating a total of 13,888 GPUs. All this is organised in 28 racks, optimising space and maximising performance. In terms of power consumption, ENI indicates a maximum power consumption of 10.17 MVA.

The Nesite raised floor for the HPC6 room

The new HPC6 in ENI’s Green Data Center is one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world and represents a significant leap forward in high performance computing, supporting ENI in its transition from the energies of today to those of the future.

In this strategic hub, we supplied our customer Argelato Srl of Rome, with around 2.000 sqm of high-performance raised floor, designed with special features. The challenge, specifically, was to be able to guarantee the mechanical loads required by the new High Performance Computing – HPC6 which, being equipped with a liquid cooling system, had loads exceeding 15kN.

To this purpose, the room housing the HPC6 was supplemented by a specially designed and customised structure, entirely zinc whiskers free. In the corridors and adjoining rooms, on the other hand, our very high load-bearing TR structure with a height of 1000 mm was used, with reinforced stringers and columns.

Finally, the calcium sulphate panels, 34 mm thick and covered with antistatic pvc, were reinforced on the bottom side with a galvanised steel plate, in order to minimise panel deflection, not exceeding 2.5 mm even under heavy loads.