HPC Solutions

Headless HPC Environments — Maximum Compute, Zero Waste

Purpose-built, remotely managed high-performance computing clusters designed to dedicate every CPU cycle and GPU core to the workloads that matter — with no monitors, no desktops, and no unnecessary overhead.

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What Is a Headless HPC Environment?

A headless HPC (High-Performance Computing) environment is a cluster of compute nodes that operate entirely without local displays, keyboards, or graphical user interfaces. Every system resource — CPU, GPU, memory, and storage bandwidth — is fully allocated to computational workloads such as AI/ML model training, scientific simulation, financial modelling, and large-scale data analytics.

Instead of local interaction, administrators and researchers manage the entire environment remotely through:

SSH

Secure command-line access for remote administration, configuration, and direct interaction with compute nodes.

IPMI / BMC

Baseboard Management Controller for hardware-level, out-of-band management — even when the OS is unresponsive or the node is powered off.

Redfish API

Modern, RESTful automation and orchestration of firmware updates, health monitoring, and power control across the cluster.

SLURM Workload Manager

Job scheduling, resource allocation, and queue management across the entire cluster for optimal utilisation.

Industry Standard Architecture

This architecture is the standard operating model for data centres, research institutions, and enterprises running compute-intensive workloads at scale.

Why Go Headless?

Maximised Resource Utilisation

Eliminating the GUI frees CPU, memory, and GPU resources that would otherwise be consumed by desktop rendering, window management, and display services. Every resource is devoted to your workload.

Reduced Hardware Costs

No need for monitors, keyboards, mice, display adapters, or KVM switches per node. At scale, the savings are significant.

Improved Stability & Security

Fewer software components mean fewer attack surfaces and fewer points of failure. Headless Linux distributions have a smaller footprint, reducing the risk of software conflicts and OS crashes.

Full Remote Management

Manage every node from anywhere via SSH, IPMI/BMC, or Redfish — including power cycling, BIOS configuration, and OS reinstallation — without physical presence.

Scalability

Adding new compute nodes to the cluster requires no per-node display infrastructure. Provisioning tools like Warewulf, xCAT, or Bright Cluster Manager automate deployment at scale.

Energy Efficiency

Lower per-node power draw from eliminating display hardware and GUI processing contributes to a greener, more cost-effective data centre footprint.

Architecture Overview

A DiGiCOR Headless HPC environment is composed of five core layers:

Compute Nodes

The workhorses of the cluster. Each node contains high-performance CPUs (Intel Xeon Scalable or AMD EPYC), optional GPU accelerators (NVIDIA H100, L40S, or RTX PRO series), high-capacity DDR5 ECC memory, and local NVMe storage. Nodes operate headless — no display output is required or configured.

Out-of-Band Management (IPMI / BMC / Redfish)

Every server motherboard includes a dedicated Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) — a separate microcontroller with its own network interface and firmware. The BMC operates independently of the host OS, enabling administrators to:

Power nodes on/off remotely
Access the BIOS/UEFI console before the OS boots
Mount virtual media (ISO images) for remote OS installation
Monitor hardware sensors (temperature, voltage, fan speed)
Receive SNMP alerts for out-of-range conditions
Perform firmware updates via Redfish REST API

High-Speed Interconnect

For tightly coupled parallel workloads (MPI-based simulations, distributed AI training), InfiniBand with RDMA delivers ultra-low latency and high bandwidth between nodes. For loosely coupled or throughput-oriented workloads, 25/100GbE Ethernet provides a cost-effective alternative.

Parallel Storage

A tiered storage architecture ensures data is available at the speed your workloads demand:

Scratch tier — NVMe-based parallel file systems (Lustre, BeeGFS) for active computation
Capacity tier — HDD-based storage for datasets, results, and project files
Archive tier — Cold storage or tape for long-term retention and compliance

Workload Management (SLURM)

SLURM (Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management) is the industry-standard job scheduler for HPC clusters. It manages:

Job queuing and prioritisation across multiple users and projects
Resource allocation (CPUs, GPUs, memory, time limits per job)
Partition management for different hardware tiers (CPU-only, GPU, high-memory)
Accounting and usage reporting
Job arrays for batch processing at scale

Ideal Workloads

DiGiCOR Headless HPC environments are engineered for:

AI & Machine Learning

Large-scale model training, fine-tuning, and batch inference using GPU-accelerated nodes

Scientific Simulation

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), molecular dynamics, climate modelling, astrophysics

Financial Modelling

Risk analysis, Monte Carlo simulations, quantitative research

Genomics & Bioinformatics

Genome sequencing pipelines, protein structure prediction

Engineering & CAE

Finite element analysis (FEA), structural simulation, crash testing

Rendering & Visualisation

Batch rendering for VFX, architecture, and product design (GPU-accelerated, headless)

Data Analytics

Large-scale ETL, data lake processing, and real-time analytics

DiGiCOR Headless HPC — What's Included

Hardware

Compute Servers

Supermicro, ASUS, and GIGABYTE rackmount servers with Intel Xeon 6 / AMD EPYC 9005 processors and DDR5 ECC memory

GPU Accelerators

NVIDIA H100 NVL, L40S, RTX PRO 6000, or AMD Instinct MI300X — configured headless with compute-only drivers

High-Speed Networking

InfiniBand HDR/NDR or 25/100GbE switches from Juniper Networks

Storage

TrueNAS enterprise storage, Seagate Exos JBOD expansion shelves, NVMe-based parallel file systems

Data Centre Infrastructure

Vertiv PDUs, UPS, and cooling solutions sized for HPC power densities

Software & Management Stack

Operating System

Ubuntu Server, Rocky Linux, or SUSE Linux Enterprise HPC (headless, CLI-only)

Workload Manager

SLURM (installation, configuration, partition design, accounting)

Cluster Provisioning

Warewulf, xCAT, or Bright Cluster Manager for automated node deployment

Monitoring

Grafana + Prometheus dashboards for real-time cluster health, GPU utilisation, and job metrics

Container Support

Singularity/Apptainer and NVIDIA Container Toolkit for reproducible AI/HPC workflows

Out-of-Band Management

IPMI 2.0 / Redfish configured on a dedicated, isolated management VLAN

Services

Solution Design & Architecture

HPC specialists design cluster topology, networking, and storage tiers tailored to your workload

Assembly & Testing

Systems staged, configured, and tested before delivery

Onsite Deployment

Full installation and integration across your environment

Warranty & Support

Up to 7-year extended warranty with local support

Who It’s For

Universities & Research Institutes

Shared HPC clusters for multi-disciplinary research, AI labs, and PhD compute pools.

Government & Defence

Secure, on-premises compute for classified simulation and modelling workloads.

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Medical imaging AI, genomics pipelines, and drug discovery simulations.

Financial Services

High-frequency quantitative research, risk modelling, and regulatory stress testing.

Media & Entertainment

GPU render farms for film, animation, and architectural visualisation.

Engineering & Manufacturing

CAE simulation clusters for product design and testing.

Why DiGiCOR?

Trusted by government, defence, and enterprise across Australia and New Zealand.

Australian-Built

Systems designed, assembled, and tested locally in Melbourne.

Vendor-Agnostic Architecture

Choose from Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Supermicro, ASUS, and GIGABYTE platforms.

ISO 9001 & ISO 27001 Certified

Quality management and information security assurance.

JOSCAR-AU Registered

Defence-ready supply chain compliance.

Government Panel Approved

NSW ICT Services Scheme (SCM0020), WALGA Preferred Supplier, eServices Victoria Panel.

End-to-End Delivery

From solution design through to onsite deployment and ongoing support across ANZ.

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