Major Research Computing Advancements

The University of Louisville is proud to announce a series of transformative developments in Research Computing, positioning the institution at the forefront of data-driven discovery.

Led by Dr. Ritu Arora, Associate Vice Provost, Information Technology Services (ITS), Research Computing, and Harrison Simrall, Director of ITS Research Computing, the university has expanded its computing infrastructure and services to support increasingly complex research challenges. These efforts reflect a strategic shift in the scientific and technology landscape, where traditional pillars of theory and experimentation are now deeply intertwined with advanced high-performance computing and data analytics.

New Infrastructure and Services

Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) program, a new $3.7 million Dell-based HPC system expected to go live this fall. This system features advanced processing elements and large-memory nodes, with infrastructure upgrades underway to ensure optimal performance and cooling.

• LARCC (Louisville Academic Research Compute Cluster) and CARDS (Cardinal Academic Research Data Storage), funded by the NSF CC* program, are ready for use by researchers. LARCC will deliver twenty Nvidia H100 GPUs and high-throughput CPU infrastructure, while CARDS will offer approximately 6 PB of shared storage.
• A new High-Performance Computing (HPC) platform featuring NVIDIA DGX H200 systems, multicore AMD processors, and up to 6 TB RAM per node is under development. This $3.8M investment will support scalable AI and non-AI workloads with 5 PB of parallel distributed storage.
• In parallel, the Research Computing team has been working with Google and CDW to establish assured workloads for secure, compliant research environments. These efforts include provisioning secure enclaves for CUI/FedRAMP-compliant projects, setting up billing structures, and exploring GCP credits for exploratory work.
• Legacy CRC systems are being upgraded with BeeGFS-based storage and migrated to CARDS for improved performance and scalability. 

Expanded Capabilities and Support

The Research Computing team now offers:

• Cloud credits via NSF ACCESS (Jetstream2, SDSC, TACC) and AWS.
• Consulting in HPC, code optimization, data analytics, secure data handling, and science gateway development.
• Training and curriculum modernization support, including workshops on parallel programming, containerization, scientific visualization, and AI frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow. 

Strategic Vision and Collaboration

The team is actively exploring:

• Diversification of compute resources to support future AI workloads.
• Confidential computing and SMART NICs for secure, network-level processing.
• Institutional repositories for long-term data preservation.
• Tier-3 support services to help researchers optimize code and resource usage.
• Participation in national programs like NSF’s Advanced Computing Systems & Services Category II and mid/large-scale infrastructure grants. 

As Dr. Arora emphasized, “Research IT is no longer a support function—it’s a strategic enabler of scientific breakthroughs. Our infrastructure and services are designed to empower researchers across disciplines to innovate faster and more securely.”