Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Official Customer Support

Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Official Customer Support Customer Care Number | Toll Free Number Cray Inc., once an independent pioneer in high-performance computing (HPC), now operates as a vital division of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) with its global headquarters and core R&D center located in Seattle, Washington. Since its founding in 1972 by Seymour Cray, the company

Nov 15, 2025 - 07:06
Nov 15, 2025 - 07:06
 1

Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Official Customer Support Customer Care Number | Toll Free Number

Cray Inc., once an independent pioneer in high-performance computing (HPC), now operates as a vital division of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) with its global headquarters and core R&D center located in Seattle, Washington. Since its founding in 1972 by Seymour Cray, the company has been synonymous with groundbreaking supercomputing innovation—delivering systems that push the boundaries of computational power, speed, and efficiency. Today, under HPE’s leadership, Cray continues to design, manufacture, and support some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers used by national laboratories, academic institutions, defense agencies, and Fortune 500 enterprises. This article provides a comprehensive, SEO-optimized guide to Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle’s supercomputing systems, with direct access to official customer support channels, global service access, industry applications, and answers to frequently asked questions. Whether you’re a system administrator, researcher, or enterprise client, this resource ensures you have the correct, verified contact information and support pathways to maintain uninterrupted operations of your Cray-powered supercomputing infrastructure.

Why Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Official Customer Support is Unique

Cray Inc.’s integration into Hewlett Packard Enterprise has not diluted its legacy—it has amplified it. Unlike generic IT support providers, Cray’s customer support team is composed of domain-specific engineers who have worked on the actual architectures of systems like the Cray XC series, Cray CS series, and the groundbreaking Cray Shasta platform. These specialists don’t just troubleshoot software bugs; they understand the intricate interplay between interconnect fabrics like Slingshot, high-performance storage systems like Cray DataWarp, and optimized Linux-based operating environments such as Cray Linux Environment (CLE).

The uniqueness of Cray Inc. (HPE) support stems from three core pillars: technical depth, proactive monitoring, and industry-specific customization. First, technical depth means that support engineers are often former Cray system architects or HPC researchers who have deployed systems in environments ranging from the Arctic Circle to the Nevada Test Site. Second, proactive monitoring is enabled through HPE’s integrated management platforms, including HPE InfoSight, which uses AI-driven analytics to predict hardware failures, optimize performance bottlenecks, and auto-generate service tickets before users even notice an issue. Third, customization is baked into every support contract—whether it’s a national lab running climate simulations or a pharmaceutical firm modeling protein folding, Cray’s support team tailors firmware patches, driver updates, and performance tuning to the specific workload.

Additionally, Cray’s Seattle-based team maintains direct access to the original design schematics, source code repositories, and low-level firmware logs—something no third-party vendor can replicate. This level of vertical integration ensures that when a system crashes during a critical 10,000-core simulation, the support engineer doesn’t need to escalate through layers of bureaucracy. They can immediately access the exact build version, patch history, and known issue database tied to that specific node configuration. This is why organizations like the U.S. Department of Energy and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have maintained long-term support contracts with Cray/HPE for over a decade.

Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Official Customer Support Toll-Free and Helpline Numbers

For customers requiring immediate assistance with Cray supercomputing systems, HPE provides dedicated, toll-free support lines staffed 24/7 by certified Cray support engineers. These numbers are verified through HPE’s official enterprise support portal and are not affiliated with third-party call centers or resellers.

United States & Canada Toll-Free Support:

1-800-752-0900

24/7 Emergency Support (Hardware Failure or System Down):

1-800-752-0900 (Press 1 for Priority Response)

General Technical Support & Software Licensing Inquiries:

1-800-752-0900 (Press 2)

Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Support:

+44 20 3857 3000

Asia-Pacific (APAC) Support:

+65 6863 8888

Latin America Support:

+1-800-900-4100 (Mexico & Brazil Direct Line)

Japan Support:

+81 3 4570 8800

These numbers are active 365 days a year, with response time SLAs guaranteed under enterprise support contracts. Customers with active HPE SupportPlus or HPE Proactive Care agreements receive priority routing, guaranteed 15-minute response for critical issues, and direct access to Cray’s Seattle-based architecture team for complex system diagnostics.

For non-emergency inquiries, such as software updates, documentation requests, or training schedules, customers are encouraged to use the HPE Support Center online portal at https://support.hpe.com. However, for hardware failures, network interconnect issues, or system crashes during critical computations, the toll-free numbers above are the fastest and most reliable access point.

How to Reach Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Official Customer Support Support

Reaching Cray Inc. (HPE) customer support is designed to be efficient, scalable, and tailored to the severity of the issue. Below is a step-by-step guide to ensure you connect with the right team at the right time.

Step 1: Determine the Severity of Your Issue

Before calling, classify your issue:

  • Critical (P1): System is completely down; simulation halted; no access to compute nodes.
  • High (P2): Performance degradation >40%; intermittent node failures; storage subsystem alerts.
  • Medium (P3): Software installation issues; licensing errors; documentation requests.
  • Low (P4): General inquiries, training schedules, non-urgent feature requests.

Severity level determines your routing path and response time.

Step 2: Use the Correct Contact Method

For P1 & P2 Issues (Emergency):
Call the toll-free number immediately: 1-800-752-0900. Press 1 for Priority Response. You will be connected within 5–15 minutes to a Cray-certified engineer who can initiate remote diagnostics, lock down affected nodes, and dispatch replacement hardware if needed.

For P3 Issues:

Log in to the HPE Support Center at https://support.hpe.com. Use your HPE Customer ID to open a case. Attach system logs, error screenshots, and node IDs. Response time: within 4 business hours.

For P4 Issues:

Email: cray-support@hpe.com

Or use the HPE Community Forum: https://community.hpe.com/t5/cray-supercomputing/bd-p/Cray-Supercomputing

Step 3: Prepare Required Information

To expedite support, have the following ready before contacting:

  • Serial number of the Cray system (found on chassis or in system BIOS)
  • Software version (e.g., CLE 5.3, Slingshot 10.2)
  • Operating system and kernel version
  • Exact error message or log snippet (copy/paste, do not paraphrase)
  • Time and frequency of issue occurrence
  • Whether the issue occurs during specific jobs or consistently

Providing this information upfront reduces diagnostic time by up to 70% and allows Cray engineers to pull relevant patches or known-issue advisories before the call even begins.

Step 4: Escalation Path

If your issue is not resolved within 24 hours for P1/P2 cases, request escalation to the Cray Seattle Tier-3 Support Team. This team includes the original designers of the Cray XT, XC, and Shasta architectures. Escalation is automatic for customers under Proactive Care contracts, but others may request it via the HPE Support Portal by selecting “Escalate to Architecture Team.”

Worldwide Helpline Directory

Cray Inc. (HPE) maintains regional support centers globally to ensure local language assistance, time-zone alignment, and compliance with regional data sovereignty laws. Below is the official worldwide helpline directory for Cray supercomputing support.

Region Support Number Hours (Local Time) Support Language
United States & Canada 1-800-752-0900 24/7 English
United Kingdom & Ireland +44 20 3857 3000 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM GMT English
Germany, Austria, Switzerland +49 69 9530 2888 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET German, English
France +33 1 70 72 72 00 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET French, English
Italy & Spain +39 02 3044 4100 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM CET Italian, Spanish, English
Japan +81 3 4570 8800 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM JST Japanese, English
China +86 21 6108 8888 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM CST Mandarin, English
India +91 80 4128 9000 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM IST English, Hindi
Australia & New Zealand +61 2 8080 5000 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM AEST English
Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines +65 6863 8888 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM SGT English
Mexico, Brazil, Argentina +1-800-900-4100 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CST/EST Spanish, Portuguese, English
South Africa +27 11 808 8888 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM SAST English

For regions not listed above, customers are directed to use the U.S. toll-free number or submit a case via the HPE Support Portal. All international calls are routed through HPE’s global support hub in Seattle, ensuring consistent service quality regardless of location.

About Cray Inc. (HPE) in Seattle: Supercomputing Systems – Key Industries and Achievements

Cray Inc. (now HPE Cray) has shaped the evolution of supercomputing across critical sectors. Its systems are not merely tools—they are foundational infrastructure for scientific discovery, national security, and industrial innovation. Below are the key industries served and landmark achievements tied to Cray’s Seattle-based engineering teams.

1. National Laboratories & Scientific Research

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) national labs have relied on Cray systems for decades. The “Cray-1” was the first supercomputer used at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Today, Cray Shasta powers the world’s fastest supercomputer: Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. With over 1.1 exaflops of performance, Frontier is the first system to break the exascale barrier—achieving what was once considered science fiction. Cray’s Seattle team designed the Slingshot interconnect, which enables 1.1 million concurrent communication streams, making Frontier’s performance possible.

Other landmark systems include:

  • Perlmutter (NERSC, Lawrence Berkeley): 350 petaflops, used for climate modeling and dark energy research.
  • Summit (Oak Ridge): Former

    1 system, used for nuclear fusion simulations and pandemic response modeling during COVID-19.

  • El Capitan (Lawrence Livermore): Upcoming exascale system (2025), designed for nuclear stockpile stewardship.

2. Weather Forecasting & Climate Science

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) runs its global weather models on Cray XC40 and XC50 systems. These systems process petabytes of satellite and ground sensor data daily to generate 15-day forecasts with unprecedented accuracy. Cray’s high-bandwidth memory and parallel I/O architecture allow ECMWF to reduce forecast latency from 12 hours to under 90 minutes.

Similarly, NOAA’s Climate Forecast System (CFS) and Japan’s JMA rely on Cray systems to simulate climate change scenarios over centuries—helping governments plan for sea-level rise, extreme weather, and agricultural adaptation.

3. Defense & Intelligence

Cray systems are classified as critical infrastructure by NATO and the U.S. Department of Defense. The U.S. Air Force uses Cray XC systems for real-time radar signal processing and hypersonic missile trajectory simulations. The National Security Agency (NSA) employs Cray supercomputers for cryptographic analysis and AI-driven threat detection. In 2022, Cray delivered a secure, air-gapped system to the Pentagon for nuclear command and control simulations—designed with hardware-level encryption and zero-trust architecture.

4. Energy & Oil & Gas

ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron use Cray systems for seismic imaging. Traditional methods required weeks to process a single 3D seismic survey. With Cray’s parallel computing and high-speed storage, they now process the same data in under 6 hours. This has reduced exploration costs by 30% and increased oil discovery accuracy by 45%.

5. Pharmaceutical & Biotech

Cray supercomputers are used to simulate protein folding at atomic resolution. Companies like Pfizer and Moderna used Cray systems during the pandemic to model how SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins bind to human cells—accelerating mRNA vaccine design by over 18 months. The University of Cambridge’s “Cryo-EM” project runs on a Cray CS500, enabling researchers to visualize viruses in 3D at near-atomic detail.

6. Automotive & Aerospace

Ford, BMW, and SpaceX use Cray systems for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Simulating airflow over a Formula 1 car or a rocket nozzle used to take days. Now, with Cray Shasta and AI-accelerated solvers, simulations complete in under 2 hours. This allows for rapid prototyping and real-time optimization of aerodynamic designs.

Global Service Access

Cray Inc. (HPE) ensures global service access through a combination of on-site engineers, remote diagnostics, and cloud-enabled support platforms. Whether you’re in Helsinki, Hong Kong, or Houston, you have access to the same level of expertise.

On-Site Support

For customers with mission-critical systems, HPE offers On-Site Service Engineers (OSSE) who are Cray-certified and trained to perform hardware replacements, firmware upgrades, and system calibration. These engineers are stationed in over 40 countries and can respond within 4 hours for P1 incidents.

Remote Diagnostics & HPE InfoSight

Every Cray system is equipped with HPE InfoSight, an AI-powered monitoring platform that collects over 10,000 data points per second—from CPU temperature to memory parity errors. InfoSight predicts failures with 92% accuracy and automatically opens support tickets. In 2023, HPE reported that 68% of Cray system issues were resolved before the customer even noticed them.

Cloud-Based Support Portal

The HPE Support Center (https://support.hpe.com) offers:

  • Downloadable firmware and drivers
  • Knowledge base with 12,000+ troubleshooting articles
  • Live chat with Cray support engineers (8 AM–8 PM UTC)
  • System health reports and performance benchmarks
  • Access to Cray User Group webinars and training videos

Training & Certification

HPE offers the Cray Systems Administrator Certification (CSAC), a 5-day intensive course held in Seattle, Munich, and Tokyo. Certified administrators receive priority support access and are authorized to perform advanced system configurations. Over 3,000 professionals have earned this certification since 2020.

Software & Licensing Support

Cray systems run on proprietary software stacks including Cray Linux Environment (CLE), Cray MPI, and Cray Performance Analysis Tools. Support for these tools is included in all enterprise contracts. Licensing inquiries (e.g., node count expansion, license transfer) are handled by HPE’s dedicated Cray Licensing Team at cray-licensing@hpe.com.

FAQs

Q1: Is Cray Inc. still a separate company from HPE?

No. Cray Inc. was acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2019 and now operates as the Cray division within HPE’s High Performance Computing and AI business unit. All support, sales, and engineering are managed under HPE’s global infrastructure.

Q2: What is the correct phone number for Cray customer support?

The official U.S. and Canada toll-free number is 1-800-752-0900. This number connects directly to Cray engineers in Seattle. Avoid third-party websites listing unverified numbers.

Q3: Can I get support for a Cray system purchased from a reseller?

Yes. As long as the system is registered under a valid HPE Support contract, you are eligible for full support regardless of the original purchasing channel. Register your system at https://support.hpe.com/register.

Q4: How long does it take to get replacement parts for a failed Cray node?

For P1 incidents, replacement parts are shipped overnight from HPE’s global distribution centers in the U.S., Germany, or Singapore. On-site engineers can often replace a failed compute node in under 2 hours.

Q5: Does Cray support older systems like the Cray XT5 or XE6?

Yes. HPE provides extended support for legacy Cray systems through its “Legacy Systems Support Program.” Firmware updates and security patches are still released for systems up to 15 years old, provided they are under active support contracts.

Q6: Can I access Cray system documentation without a support contract?

Some public documentation is available on HPE’s website, but full technical manuals, API guides, and firmware release notes require an active support contract. Contact cray-support@hpe.com to request access.

Q7: What is the difference between HPE SupportPlus and Proactive Care for Cray systems?

SupportPlus includes 24/7 phone support, hardware replacement, and software updates. Proactive Care adds AI-driven predictive analytics, quarterly performance reviews, and direct access to Cray architects. Proactive Care is recommended for exascale and mission-critical deployments.

Q8: Does Cray offer training for new users?

Yes. HPE offers online courses, in-person workshops in Seattle, and virtual labs for Cray system administration, parallel programming, and performance tuning. Visit https://www.hpe.com/us/en/training.html for schedules.

Q9: How do I report a security vulnerability in a Cray system?

Report all security issues immediately to HPE’s Security Response Center at psirt@hpe.com. Cray systems are subject to HPE’s rigorous vulnerability disclosure program and receive patches within 72 hours of confirmation.

Q10: Can I upgrade my Cray XC system to a Shasta architecture?

Yes. HPE offers migration services to transition from XC to Shasta platforms. This includes data migration, application recompilation, and system integration. Contact your HPE account manager to schedule a migration assessment.

Conclusion

Cray Inc., now a cornerstone of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s global supercomputing division, remains the gold standard in high-performance computing innovation. Headquartered in Seattle, its engineers continue to redefine what’s possible in computational science—powering breakthroughs in climate modeling, drug discovery, national defense, and space exploration. The reliability of these systems depends not just on their hardware, but on the quality of the support that sustains them.

This guide has provided verified, official contact information for Cray Inc. (HPE) customer support, detailed pathways to access global service, and insights into the industries and achievements that define Cray’s legacy. Whether you’re managing an exascale supercomputer at Oak Ridge or troubleshooting a node failure in a university lab in Tokyo, the toll-free number 1-800-752-0900 and the HPE Support Center are your lifelines.

Never rely on unofficial sources or third-party listings for support. Always use the channels provided in this article to ensure you receive expert, secure, and timely assistance. Cray systems are too critical to risk delays—connect directly, prepare your information, and leverage the full power of HPE’s world-class support infrastructure.

For ongoing updates, subscribe to the HPE Cray Newsletter at https://www.hpe.com/us/en/cray/newsletter.html and join the Cray User Group to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of supercomputing.