Supertext

The Challenge

Supertext, one of the leading language AI specialists in the DACH region, has been running its own servers in a colocation environment for years. For the relaunch of supertext.com with a completely new cluster, a new rack and significantly more power capacity were required. Both had reached their limits at the previous location in Altstetten. Adding to the complexity, information about how the existing machines were protected on the power side was initially missing, making planning more difficult than necessary. The server installation also presented early challenges: the servers turned out to be too long for the rack, and power sockets had to be repositioned before installation could be completed.

The Solution

The solution was a move to the data center in Rümlang. We doubled the power line capacity specifically for Supertext, permanently securing the capacity needed for the new rack and cluster. The new rack now hosts an active-active cluster with six nodes – four GPU blades and two CPU blades – each equipped with eight GPUs, mostly NVIDIA RTX 6000, orchestrated via Docker Swarm. In parallel, we advised Supertext on the question of georedundancy: would a load balancer between two locations make sense? After thorough analysis, both parties decided against it, because the additional complexity of a multi-site setup would have increased the risk of errors rather than reduced it. Instead, redundancy is now handled pragmatically and with minimal maintenance requirements within the rack itself. The fact that we actively advised against a more elaborate solution, even though it meant less revenue, made a lasting impression on Supertext.

The Result

Supertext now runs its infrastructure in the data center in Rümlang, with sufficient power, a dedicated rack for supertext.com, and a redundancy strategy that matches the actual complexity of the setup. The network architecture is leaner, more robust, and easier to operate than a distributed solution would have been. What remains is a working relationship built on mutual trust, and a running joke among Supertext employees: anyone visiting the data center quickly learns to move swiftly after entering the airlock. Miss the 30-second mark, and you'll feel the pressure wave firsthand.