---
title: "CARC prepares for deployment of new high-performance computing cluster"
description: "Easley — named for NASA pioneer Annie Easley — brings H100 GPUs, all-flash storage, and a 7–10× performance leap."
type: News
tags:
  - News
  - Systems
generated:
  by: "claude/fable-5"
  at: "2026-08-29T00:00:00Z"
sources:
  - id: carc-web
    resource: "https://carc.unm.edu/news--events/News/easley-cluster.html"
    title: "New Easley cluster (carc.unm.edu)"
    author: "team:unm-carc"
---

# CARC prepares for deployment of new high-performance computing cluster

<p class="carc-byline">By Mariah Rosales</p>

![Easley cluster announcement graphic](https://carc.unm.edu/images/untitled-design-11.png)

The Center for Advanced Research Computing (CARC) is gearing up to deploy
its latest high-performance computing (HPC) cluster, tentatively set for a
summer launch. This state-of-the-art system will provide researchers with
cutting-edge computing power, supporting a wide range of computational and
data-intensive projects.

The new cluster, named **Easley**, honors the legacy of
[Annie Easley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Easley){target=_blank}, a
pioneering computer programmer and mathematician whose contributions to
early rocket propulsion and coding have left a lasting impact on the field
of computational science.

Hussein Al-Azzawi, CARC IT Manager, says "We are very excited to launch
Easley, our new cluster, and bring new cutting-edge technology to support
UNM faculty, staff, and students. We hope always to provide resources that
allow research to push the boundaries and act as a crucial resource for
those looking to utilize the latest technological innovation when conducting
their research at UNM."

The new Dell HPC cluster will replace Wheeler and will give us an estimated
performance boost of 7× to 10×, depending on workload type, and a brand-new
all-flash IBM parallel filesystem.

"This is a massive performance upgrade in efficiency and raw power, which
comes with a fivefold reduction in the number of racks and physical CPUs,"
says Al-Azzawi. "This lowers power consumption per compute unit and reduces
cooling and maintenance costs while providing modern architecture and
supporting newer software optimizations, preparing us to advance in the AI
and machine learning age."

Easley will be a mixed-use Dell hardware CPU/GPU cluster, incorporating H100
GPUs, which are among the most advanced graphics processing units available
today. These GPUs are designed to accelerate AI, machine learning, and
scientific computing workloads, offering significant performance
enhancements over previous generations.

At announcement, the cluster comprised 60 nodes, 3,968 cores, 22.5 TB RAM,
and 32 NVIDIA GPUs. Easley's core network is based on NVIDIA's 800 Gbps
InfiniBand, with 200 Gbps connectivity to the nodes and a 768 TB raw
all-flash parallel filesystem.

Accompanying the deployment is an IBM storage solution, ensuring researchers
have access to a robust and scalable data storage infrastructure.
Additionally, the system utilizes a high-speed InfiniBand connection,
allowing for seamless data transfer and communication between computing
nodes, optimizing performance for complex simulations and large-scale
computational tasks.

!!! success "Easley is now in production"

    Easley launched with 65 nodes, 4,160 cores, and 44 NVIDIA GPUs (36 L40S
    + 8 H100) — see the current specifications in the
    [systems overview](https://unm-carc.github.io/docs/systems/overview/).