HPCNL (High-Performance Computing and Networking Laboratory) was established in June 2008 with a focus on research and development in the field of high-performance computing and its related ecosystem, particularly in the context of cloud computing. The lab concentrates on computer systems, networks, and application performance debugging, covering aspects such as multi-core infrastructure, virtualization, parallel computing, and distributed application development.

In the realm of cloud infrastructure, the lab has developed benchmarks to evaluate the performance of various components, from memory subsystems to operating systems, identifying performance bottlenecks and facilitating techniques to improve system performance. These benchmarks offer a comprehensive view of system performance, aiding system architects and end-users in comparing different systems based on their performance potential.

Virtualization technology is another key area of focus, with projects like System Mode Emulation in QEMU and Type-2 Hypervisor for MIPS64-based Systems. The lab emphasizes embedded systems due to the absence of virtualization solutions in this domain, particularly in the Internet of Things (IoT) context.

Parallel computing is a significant research area, aiming to maximize the benefits of multi-core systems. Projects are dedicated to parallelizing sequential code for efficient execution on shared-memory multi-core systems, with a focus on integrating parallelization capabilities into the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to speed up applications like Hadoop and Hive.

HPCNL also collaborates on developing a Urdu language search engine, “Humkinar Pakistan,” with the Center of Language Engineering. This project involves the development of tools and algorithms for content identification, crawling, indexing, and efficient information retrieval for a large-scale search engine.

The lab is well-equipped with state-of-the-art multi-core processor-based systems and a robust network setup, designed to international standards, providing secure high-speed connectivity both internally and externally.