BMW To Deploy HPC Clusters at Verne Global In Iceland

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A shrink-wrapped Colt data center module being delivered to the Verne Global data center in ICeland, where BMW will deploy high-performance computing clusters. (Image: Colt)

Automaker BMW will be taking data center space in Iceland at Verne Global, where it will use modular data centers from Colt to support a group of high performance computing clusters that will be used to run simulations when designing new cars. BMW  will use cloud computing deployment models developed by the Open Data Center Alliance.

BMW is the second high-profile enterprise this week to announce plans to deploy modular data center capacity. On Wedesday Goldman Sachs said it would use modules from IO for its IT infrastructure.

BMW's new facility was announced at an Open Data Center Alliance conference last week in San Francisco by Mario Mueller, Vice President of IT Infrastructure Group at BMW Group, as well as chair of the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA). Mueller also discussed BMW's plans during an Intel Developer Forum session with Intel's Diane Bryant.

BMW will lease space at the Verne Global facility near Reykjavik Iceland. With a target PUE of 1.2, BMW will use 100 percent renewable energy, a combination of hydroelectric and geothermal. Eventually the company hopes to establish infrastructure for a building a private cloud.

Verne Global called on the UK's Colt to help establish a 500 square meter (5,400 square foot) data center that opened in February of this year. The data center hall consists of 37 modules that were built in the UK and then shipped to Iceland, where they were assembled into a completed data center.

BMW is the fifth tenant at the Verne Global facility, with others including Datapipe, CCP Games, GreenQloud and Opin Kerfi.

BMW will use the ODCA usage models released a year ago to develop its cloud infrastructure. This will address solutions for cloud deployment in four categories: Secure Federation, Automation, Common Management & Policy, and Transparency. The ODCA hopes to drive data center standardization through partnerships with standards developing organizations to help ensure that industry standards meet the needs of the enterprise. To accomplish this the ODCA has worked with OASIS, Open Computer Project, Cloud Security Alliance, DMTF and the Green Grid.