Dear Physics Computing Committee and Physics Research Committee, Below is an email from Emily who does comms for the Research Computing Service (RCS) regarding a survey that the RCS has put together. I was going to write my own version but I think that Emily covers everything that I want to say. This survey is important! Please can I ask you to distribute this through to the relevant people in your communities and research groups. If people are unhappy doing this then I can send it to the staff list, but I thought that this might be more targeted. This survey has two purposes. The first is to gather requirements for the next large RCS compute facility - to be called HX2 (pronounced Hex 2). Depending on what UMB decide in November, this will either be a £5M or £10M resource. It will provide the bulk of the College's High Throughput Computing for the next ~5 years (traditional HPC resource being provided by HX1). This is our chance to provide input and to make sure that what is bought is what we need. As a member of the RCS Academic Leadership Team, I will get see the survey results and will be able to emphasise certain aspects of your replies if that is needed. The second purpose is to gather future requirements and directions, so even if people don't use the RCS, but are (heavy) computer users then please encourage them to fill in the survey to that the RCS can evolve to better suite your needs. If you have any questions then please feel free to ask either me or Emily (or perhaps both of us). Best, david -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Research Computing Services HX2 Survey Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2024 12:22:59 +0000 From: Lumley, Emily K <e.lumley@imperial.ac.uk> To: RCS Communications Team <rcs-comms-team@imperial.ac.uk> CC: Lumley, Emily K <e.lumley@imperial.ac.uk> Dear all, Research Computing Services are planning for the next deployment of HEX (HX2) in summer 2025. This new computing service, like the current HX1, will be a standalone system with dedicated local storage. Utilising next generation liquid cooling, HX2 will replace the older CX1 and some CX3 services which have traditionally focused on supporting high-throughput workloads. RCS is currently working on design options for the new HX2 system, and we have developed a survey to help gather input from the Imperial community so that HX2’s design is based on requirements defined by our research communities: their present needs as well as anticipating future needs. The survey will also help to shape future requests for central investment as well as models for research group investment to support the growth of central RCS services. We appreciate your time and input on this survey and all feedback is valuable. *Please follow this link to the survey <https://imperial.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eLtePVCEekLAfKS>* ** If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. All the best, Emily *Dr Emily Lumley (she/her)* Research Engagement Lead Research Computing Services | Information Communication Technologies| Imperial College London LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-lumley-8757b367/> | e.lumley@imperial.ac.uk <mailto:e.lumley@imperial.ac.uk> | --