Los Alamos Moves Production Computing to OpenCHAMI
The national laboratory has completed migrating most production computing to the open-source framework built by an international collaboration.
Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Quantum Computing
Los Alamos National Laboratory has completed the move of most of its production computing to OpenCHAMI, an open-source framework. Seven Los Alamos production clusters totaling more than 11,000 compute nodes now run on the system.
Why it matters
The migration shows that a community-governed, open-source framework can support large-scale high-performance computing operations at a national laboratory. Reduced downtime for upgrades since deployment suggests practical operational benefits for New Mexico's flagship research computing site.
Seven Los Alamos production clusters totaling more than 11,000 compute nodes now run on OpenCHAMI, a cloud-native framework that supports build-and-configure tools for managing operations and change. The source does not quantify the reduction in downtime for upgrades or the performance comparison against the previous environment.
The players
Los Alamos National Laboratory
A U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory in northern New Mexico that conducts large-scale scientific and national security research.
NERSC
The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a high-performance computing facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that serves the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.
Dell
A major American computer hardware company that supplies servers and high-performance computing systems to research institutions worldwide.
The details
OpenCHAMI was launched in 2023 as an open community collaboration whose founding members include Los Alamos, NERSC, CSCS, HPE and the University of Bristol. Dell joined in 2024, and the collaboration operates under an open governance model, with the framework itself open-source.
Timeline
2023: OpenCHAMI open community collaboration launched.
2024: Dell joins the OpenCHAMI collaboration.
November 13, 2026: Los Alamos announces completion of the move to OpenCHAMI.
The Tech Race
The move positions OpenCHAMI as a serious open alternative to proprietary cluster management in national-lab high-performance computing, a field where DOE sites have historically relied on vendor-specific stacks. Its open governance model, with Los Alamos, NERSC, CSCS, HPE and Bristol as founders, places it within a broader push to standardize supercomputer operations.
For researchers who rely on Los Alamos systems, the migration may mean fewer interruptions when clusters are upgraded. The framework's open-source availability also means other institutions can evaluate and adopt the same tooling without licensing barriers.
The takeaway
Open, community-governed infrastructure is proving capable of running some of the country's most demanding computing workloads. Institutions weighing cluster management options can review the framework directly rather than relying solely on proprietary vendors.
Further reading
For related developments in advanced computing, explore Quantum Computing coverage from across New Mexico.
More information
Learn more about the framework on the OpenCHAMI project website.
