DUG Delivers High-Performance Computing-as-a-Service

DUG’s business has expanded beyond Perth to Houston, London, and Kuala Lumpur, delivering green HPCaaS for “big data” user industries such as geophysics, astrophysics, and genome sequencing to diagnose COVID-19 faster. DUG’s HPCaaS is either delivered direct-to-client or via its DUG McCloud platform, a secure, customer-focused, private cloud solution.

“A global network enables us to be closer to our clients,” Lommers says.

Before that global network was established, transferring data to DUG for analysis was a very different experience for its customers. Data transfer typically meant shipping a pallet of physical storage media via air freight.

“Without a high-throughput network, it was a very laborious process to get all of the data into the system,” Lommers says. “We wanted to break down the barriers.” Designing a network to transport many petabytes of scientific data isn’t easy. DUG created specialized software to optimize data transfer, minimizing latency and ensuring that the individual packets that comprise the massive data sets arrive in the right order.

A global network has allowed DUG to transform the customer experience, eliminating weeks of waiting time while media is shipped around the globe and providing customers with ondemand computing so they can focus on their science. Behind the scenes, DUG runs workloads at its optimal data center.

 “We can work with clients in any country,” Lommers says. “Clients have real-time access to our machines through our global network.”

DUG is also connected to the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet), giving researchers and scientists direct access to supercomputing power.

“Our university clients around Australia have access to our facilities from their desktops,” Lommers says. “Researchers don’t need to deal with logging into a traditional cloud system through a VPN. They can simply click a button, and they can securely access our facilities.”

A global network enables DUG to expand into new markets beyond its compute centers. “For example, the Houston team can work directly with clients in South America, without having to ship tapes around the world,” Lommers says. “The network has opened up international markets to us.”

A high-throughput network also enables DUG to be even more operationally efficient. “Now that we have been able to connect, we can diversify our operations and staffing,” Lommers says. “We can hedge power and compute around the world.”