Lenovo EveryScale OVX Solution for NVIDIA Omniverse

A digital twin is a highly virtual model that is an exact representation, or "twin", of a physical object or business process. Digital twins can be the virtual mirror of entire buildings, factories, distribution centers, cities, or even the whole planet.

Designing and conducting simulations within a digital twin delivers optimized business processes and improved results to companies that deploy them. The Accenture Technology Trends 2022 report forecasts the worldwide market for digital twin platforms to grow from $3.2 billion in 2020 to $184.5 billion by 2030. This shows the competitive disadvantage to companies not taking this crucial next step in their Intelligent Transformation.

Before you can deploy any new device or autonomous agent in a real-world environment, organizations need to understand how they will behave in the physical world. This can be achieved through first simulating the change in a digital twin. Digital twins must be physically accurate representations of their real-world counterparts. True-to-life simulations require precision timing, ensuring synchronization across the physical and digital worlds with interactions occurring within the same real-time space for all actors in the simulation.

Figure 1. The relation of the digital twin to the physical world

Creating an industrial-scale digital twin simulation also involves capturing and modeling data from large numbers of machines, robots, sensors, autonomous vehicles, people, and processes. Building these sophisticated environments and accurately processing and modeling the data generated by the multitude of interactions of these components requires powerful computing solutions.

NVIDIA OVX is purpose-built to power large-scale industrial digital twins from the data center to create and operate massively complex models and true-to-reality simulation environments in real time leveraging NVIDIA Omniverse platform.

Through the “Power of 2” collaboration Lenovo partners with NVIDIA to bring our joint customers innovative solutions and infrastructures to support their Intelligent Transformations with smarter technology for all. This means equipping businesses across industries with the instruments to make data-driven decisions and gain faster insight from the edge to the core, achieving a competitive advantage.

Lenovo EveryScale OVX is a result of that deep partnership providing an architecture that is optimized to deliver extreme performance, scalability, and low latency to meet the demands of digital twins within the NVIDIA Omniverse. Lenovo’s integrated solution approach removes the complexity in design, procurement, and testing of various infrastructure components providing predictable performance and solution-level interoperability support.

Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure is the solution-framework Lenovo EveryScale OVX is built upon. Through solution-level interoperability testing Lenovo can warrant a fully end-to-end supported environment based on proven best practices while still tailoring it exactly to the customer’s needs. That means that the infrastructure is not just supported on a component break and fix or “box”-level, but with a holistic perspective including software, firmware and even firmware-settings.

In addition to the interoperability solution support, Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure is being deployed fully pre-integrated, pre-cabled, pre-loaded with the latest firmware “best recipe” to ensure a fast and reliable delivery and installation resulting in best-in-class time to solution.

Lenovo Services and NVIDIA Services provide the necessary experience to bring your Digital Twin environment to life partnering with your business lines and potential business consulting partners to fully incorporate the NVIDIA Omniverse into your business-verse.

The application of a digital twin is only limited by the reality it represents. The following two use cases give an idea of the power and value that a OVX digital twin can drive. Other real-life examples can be found on the NVIDIA Digital Twins page.

Reducing planned and unplanned downtime for plant maintenance

Whether it is a turnaround in a refinery or a maintenance event in a power production plant (hydroelectric, nuclear, etc.) any interruption of production is extremely expensive. Leveraging a digital twin for planned and unplanned downtimes can massively reduce downtime duration resulting in $ millions savings for the operator. An Omniverse digital twin could operate as a safe cowork space for engineers, contractors, and operators alike allowing lifts to be planned, measurements to be taken, and equipment to be designed.

Evolve and optimize manufacturing and supply chain

Operating a manufacturing environment does not end at the walls of the factory floor but requires a seamless engine from supply coming in over product being built to shipping out. A digital twin can realize the whole process from digital humans and trucks as well as autonomous robots that obey the laws of physics, it can create a perfect replication of reality. Through that digital twin the warehouse design and flow can be optimized, the intelligent robots can be trained, and overall productivity can be improved

NVIDIA Omniverse Software

NVIDIA Omniverse™ Enterprise is an end-to-end collaboration and simulation platform that fundamentally transforms complex design workflows, creating a more harmonious environment for creative teams. It consists of three software components:

• NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise Nucleus

  Collaboration service which enables a variety of Omniverse Enterprise-enabled client applications (Apps, Connectors, and others) to share and modify authoritative representations of virtual worlds. Omniverse Nucleus is the database and collaboration engine of Omniverse and built for collaboration across multiple users.

• NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise Creator

  App for accelerated advanced scene composition and world building. Creator enables scene composition, simulation, and rendering on workstations and virtual workstations.

• NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise Reviewer

  App designed to visualize projects in stunning, physically accurate photorealism and enable minor editing and comment permissions. Reviewer enables review and approval for workstations and virtual workstations.

NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise Nucleus is licensed on a per named user basis while NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise Creator and Reviewer are licensed on a Concurrent User basis. The NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise software licenses can be configured and ordered together with the Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution.

Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution also leverages RedHat Enterprise Linux as Operating System and Lenovo XClarity family to simplifies and automate the deployment and management of the solution.

To run the Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution as a fully virtualized environment Lenovo and NVIDIA partner with VMware leveraging vSphere.

The Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution is a purpose-built NVIDIA Omniverse computing offering based on Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure integrating Lenovo ThinkSystem servers and designed to meet the demands of large-scale digital twins.

Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure is a framework for designing, manufacturing, integrating and delivering data center solutions, with a focus on High Performance Computing (HPC), Technical Computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) environments.

The Lenovo EveryScale OVX computing solutions architecture is designed to scale leveraging NVIDIA Spectrum Ethernet switches and, when combined with NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise, delivers a fully integrated solution that transforms workflows for digital twins.

As a result, despite the scale and complexity of an NVIDIA Omniverse digital twin solution, customers can focus their efforts on maximizing their business value, instead of consuming valuable resources to design, optimize, install, and support the infrastructure. Again, this is all thanks to Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure and the engineering partnership between Lenovo and NVIDIA.

Figure 2. Lenovo EveryScale OVX Super-POD solution design

Scalable Performance

The Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution is designed for multi-node scalability with NVIDIA Spectrum Ethernet switch fabric. All POD and SuperPOD configurations are integrated with an optimized combination of network fabric, storage, and enterprise-grade software which combine to deliver unprecedented performance for the most demanding workloads. The OVX POD based architecture enables the deployment of one or more Scalable Units, providing the compute, low-latency networking, bandwidth, and performance required for massively complex simulations and real-time digital twins at the factory, city, or planetary-scale.

Figure 3. Lenovo EveryScale OVX scalable POD and SuperPOD rack view examples

Lenovo OVX node

The building block of the OVX computing node, the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR670 V2 server provides best-in-class cooling for the accelerators positioned in the front and allows both for front and rear IO connectivity for maximum graphic performance and IO throughput.

The OVX 1.0 node configuration combines eight NVIDIA A40 GPUs, 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, super-fast NVMe storage, and NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx network adapters with enterprise-grade management and orchestration software.

The new OVX 2.0 node configuration replaces the eight NVIDIA A40s with the new NVIDIA L40 GPUs and upgrades the networking card from a ConnectX-6 Dx to an NVIDIA ConnectX-7 adapter.

Figure 4. ThinkSystem SR670 V2

For more information regarding the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR670 V2 in general, see the SR670 V2 product guide.

Below you find the detailed configuration of the Lenovo OVX node. The table lists the components for an OVX 1.0 node and an OVX 2.0 node.

The following figure shows the architectural block diagram of the OVX 1.0 node.

Figure 5. OVX 1.0 node - configuration block diagram (click to show larger version)

Lenovo Nucleus node

Nucleus is the collaborative user environment of NVIDIA Omniverse providing persistent data and scalable core microservices. Depending on the number of users in the Omniverse Environment the Nucleus Server configuration must fit those needs.

The Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V2 has been designed to combine highest performance and flexibility. It allows to support up to 500 users without live editing and be scaled out as requirements grow.

Figure 6. Nucleus node - Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V2

For more information regarding the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V2 in general, see the SR630 V2 product guide.

Below you can find the detailed example configuration of the Lenovo Nucleus node:

Depending on concurrent users and targeted capabilities like live editing the optimal configuration choice can vary. A customer POC is recommended to optimize further for each unique deployment.

Digital twin simulations involve multiple autonomous systems interacting in the same space-time. To unlock the benefits of a digital twin and enable advanced visualization and simulation at scale, the architecture must be able to accurately simulate interactions with precise time synchronization across digital and physical worlds.

The Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution includes advanced networking technologies that enable that precise simulation of space and time. The NVIDIA Spectrum Ethernet Switch fabric and ConnectX-6 Dx Smart NICs deliver the necessary bandwidth, low latency, and precision timing to enable real-time accuracy and network synchronization, enhancing simulation capabilities.

NVIDIA Spectrum Ethernet Switches

The NVIDIA Spectrum-2 SN3700 Ethernet switch offers 32 ports of 200GbE in a compact 1U form factor. It enables connectivity to endpoints at different speeds and carries a throughput of 12.8Tb/s, with an 8.33Bpps processing capacity and only 425ns latency. It is best used in small to medium sized OVX POD configurations.

Figure 7. OVX leaf switch - NVIDIA Spectrum-2 SN3700V Ethernet switch

The NVIDIA Spectrum-3 SN4600 Ethernet switch offers 64 ports of 200GbE in a 2U form factor doubling the networking capacity over the SN3700. This switch is best used as central spine layer for the overall OVX solution or in large sized OVX SuperPOD configurations.

Figure 8. OVX spine switch - NVIDIA Spectrum-3 SN4600 Ethernet switch

ConnectX-6 Dx Network Adapter

The NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx SmartNIC is the industry’s most secure and advanced datacenter network interface card to accelerate mission-critical applications, such as security, virtualization, SDN/NFV, big data, machine learning, and storage.

Its Advanced Timing and Synchronization capabilities with PTP hardware clock, PTP-based packet pacing, and nanosecond-level accuracy make it the ideal choice for OVX real-time accurate Digital Twin simulation. The ConnectX-6 Dx 1-port 200GbE PCIe Adapter provides a single-port of 200Gb/s Ethernet connectivity.

ConnectX-7 Network Adapter

The NVIDIA ConnectX-7 SmartNIC provides hardware-accelerated networking, storage, security, and manageability services at data center scale for cloud, telecommunications, AI, and enterprise workloads. ConnectX-7 empowers agile and high-performance networking solutions with features such as Accelerated Switching and Packet Processing (ASAP²), advanced RoCE, GPUDirect Storage, and in-line hardware acceleration for Transport Layer Security (TLS), IP Security (IPsec), and MAC Security (MACsec) encryption and decryption. ConnectX-7 enables organizations to meet their current and future networking needs in both high-bandwidth and high-density environments.

Figure 9. OVX Super-POD network topology diagram (click to show larger version)

NVIDIA Omniverse solutions are operating mostly with local storage on the OVX nodes. They do require a high performance and high reliable network file system though to read the initial data from and optionally execute for example continuous snapshots or backups to.

Lenovo Distributed Storage Solution for IBM Spectrum Scale (DSS-G) is the recommended Storage environment for the Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution. It is a software-defined storage (SDS) solution for dense scalable file and object storage suitable for high-performance and data-intensive environments. DSS-G combines the performance of Lenovo ThinkSystem servers, Lenovo storage enclosures, and industry leading IBM Spectrum Scale software, to offer a high performance, scalable building block approach to modern storage needs.

IBM Spectrum Scale, based on IBM General Parallel File System (GPFS) technology, is a high-performance and highly scalable parallel file system with an extensive suite of enterprise class data management features.

Lenovo is a strategic alliance partner of IBM, and combines IBM Spectrum Scale software with Lenovo servers, storage and networking components for integrated and customized solutions.

IBM Spectrum Scale offers access to a single file system or set of filesystems in a global namespace with shared file system access among IBM Spectrum Scale clusters, simultaneous file access from multiple nodes, high recoverability and data availability through replication, the ability to make changes while a file system is mounted, and simplified administration even in large environments.

The following steps are the OVX customer journey:

Step One – Proof Of Concept

Engage with Lenovo and NVIDIA on early-stage opportunities to qualify use cases and develop sizing recommendations:

• Initial POC on a single node (Single node CTO:7Z23OVX1WW)
• Virtual Machine or Bare-Metal
• Single-node Omniverse Enterprise Workloads

Step Two – Expansion

Seamlessly scale to POD and SuperPOD configurations:

• Add Networking, Infrastructure Management & Orchestration SW
• Multi-Node Omniverse Enterprise Workloads

Contact your Lenovo or NVIDIA sales representative to get started.

Enabling teams scattered across geographic locations to collaborate on 3D assets with various machines is a task that enterprise IT needs a solution for. Remote workforces demand efficiency, and this is a difficult balancing act for power-hungry workloads and a dispersed team. The demand for photorealistic, physically-accurate simulation begs higher compute power, accessible from anywhere.

Lenovo’s NVIDIA RTX powered ThinkPad, ThinkStation P Series Workstations & ThinkVision P series displays are tested and optimized to run NVIDIA’s Omniverse enterprise.

These workstations and displays are the perfect addition to an OVX deployment and can run the smaller than OVX workloads (known as OVE workloads) on their own.

ThinkPad P1

The ThinkPad P1 is the industry’s most powerful thin & light 16” mobile workstation. Configurable with up to 14x CPU Cores, 64GB of memory and NVIDIA’s most powerful mobile GPU the RTX A5000, with it’s impressive 16GB of GPU frame buffer; important for those larger and more complex workflows whilst on the go.

Paired with a brand new 16:10 stunning WQUXGA touch display, this all inspiring mobile workstation is perfect for demanding Omniverse Create workflows and can be configured to suit any project and or budget requirement.

• Up to 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H CPU
• Up to NVIDIA RTX A5500 GPU
• Up to 64GB Memory
• Up to 8TB NVMe of Storage

For more information regarding Lenovo’s Omvniverse Workstation offerings, see the following web page:
https://techtoday.lenovo.com/us/en/workstations/Omniverse

Lenovo is a leading provider of data center infrastructure solutions and a premier NVIDIA OVX partner. The Lenovo EveryScale OVX solution is co-designed with NVIDIA. Lenovo will work with you and NVIDIA to identify, design, install and support the solution that best ensures your organization's needs.

Lenovo complements a portfolio of leading x86 infrastructure with a full range of storage, workstations, software, and comprehensive services that provides excellent performance, reliability, and security for your IT environment from the edge to the cloud.

One Stop Shop for OVX deployments

Lenovo is the one stop shop for your Omniverse and OVX deployments providing:

• End to end technology access from clients and workstations to edge devices and data center systems and solutions.
• Strategic “Power of 2“ partnership with NVIDIA resulting in co-designed Lenovo OVX solution.
• Only integrated NVIDIA certified OVX solution in the market - instead of plain boxes.
• 20 years track record on integrated HPC solutions with Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure
• Full solution from one provider with full control from supply chain to service and support, not assembling parts from a channel/distribution.
• Compact 3U form factor for OVX nodes.
• Global presence and availability of solution.

For details about Lenovo support, see the Lenovo ISG Support Plan.

To learn more about the Lenovo EveryScale OVX Solution for NVIDIA Omniverse, contact your Lenovo Sales Representative or Business Partner.

Products related to this document are the following:

• Lenovo Scalable Infrastructure (LeSI)
• Lenovo ThinkSystem SR670 V2
• Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V2
• Lenovo Distributed Storage Solution for IBM Spectrum Scale (DSS-G)
• Lenovo High Performance Computing
• Lenovo TruScale Infrastructure Services
• Lenovo Workstations and Displays for Omniverse

More information on NVIDIA Omniverse and related product families

• NVIDIA Omniverse
• NVIDIA Omniverse Documentation
• NVIDIA A40
• NVIDIA L40
• NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx
• NVIDIA ConnectX-7
• NVIDIA Spectrum 3000 Series
• NVIDIA Spectrum 4000 Series