The University of Stuttgart and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have just signed an agreement to build two supercomputers, one of which will become one of the most efficient machines in the world. It will also join the unique group of so-called exascalar machines.
A powerful supercomputer will be built in Stuttgart. A trillion calculations per second
The first stage of cooperation is to be the construction of a smaller Hunter supercomputer, which will be put into operation in 2025. The machine will achieve a power of approximately 39 petaFLOPS, which means it will be able to perform 39 quadrillion (39,000,000,000,000,000) operations per second. This is relatively small (considering today’s supercomputer capabilities), so even today Hunter would not fit into the top ten most efficient supercomputers in the world.
However, the machine will be a transitional project whose task will be to prepare users for the much more powerful Herder computer. Its exact specifications will not be determined until 2025, but it is already known that the performance of this supercomputer will exceed 1 exaFLOPS, i.e. it will be able to perform a trillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) operations per second.
Herder will therefore join a very small group of so-called exascalar machines, which so far include one computer – the American Frontier, currently the absolutely most efficient supercomputer in the world (almost 1.2 exaFLOPS). The second one, El Capitan, (with planned capacity of approx. 2 exaFLOPS), is currently under construction. The machine is scheduled to be launched in 2027, but even then Herder should be one of just a few of the most efficient supercomputers in the world.
Both supercomputers will be built by HPE at the Stuttgart Supercomputing Center (Höchstleistungsrechenzentrum Stuttgart – HLRS) and will be powered by accelerated AMD processors (in the case of the weaker Hunter, these will be AMD Instinct MI300A systems). For now, it is not clear what tasks the University of Stuttgart intends to use both machines for, but they may be perfect for a number of research applications – including: in designing more efficient vehicles and turbines or developing new materials and electronic components.
Interestingly, apart from Frontier, no existing computer even comes close to 1 exaFLOPS performance. According to the list, the second Aurora has a capacity of 585 petaFLOPS and the third Eagle has a capacity of 561 petaFLOPS. All three of the world’s most powerful supercomputers are located in the United States. Perhaps thanks to Herder, Europe will finally jump onto the podium on this list.
Source: Gazeta
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