Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and the University of Stuttgart have announced an agreement to build two new supercomputers at the High-Performance Computing Center of the University of Stuttgart (HLRS).
In stage one, a transitional supercomputer called Hunter will begin operation in 2025, followed up in 2027 with the installation of Herder, an exascale system that will provide an expansion of Germany’s high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities.
Hunter will be based on the HPE Cray EX4000 supercomputer, which is designed to deliver exascale performance to support large-scale workloads across modelling, simulation, AI and high-performance data analytics.
Hunter will replace HLRS’s current supercomputer, Hawk and will also leverage the next generation Cray ClusterStor, a storage system that meets the demanding input/output requirements of supercomputers, as well as the HPE Cray Programming Environment which offers programmers a set of tools for developing, porting, debugging and tuning applications.
The combination of CPUs and accelerators in Hunter and Herder will require that current users of HLRS’s supercomputer adapt existing code to run efficiently because of this, HPE will collaborate with HLRS to support its user community in adapting software to harness the full performance of the new systems.
For researchers in Stuttgart, Hunter and Herder will create many opportunities for new research across various applications in engineering and the applied sciences. The systems will also support research to address climate change and could offer data analytics resources to aid the public administration in preparing for and managing crisis situations if/when they should arise.
Justin Hotard, executive vice president and general manager, HPC, AI and labs at HPE, said: “HLRS has demonstrated the power of supercomputing in research and applied science and we are honored to have been with them on this journey. We look forward to building on our collaboration to pave the way to exascale for HLRS using the HPE Cray EX supercomputer. The new system will enable scientific and technological innovation to accelerate economic growth.”
Prof. Dr. Wolfram Ressel, rector, University of Stuttgart, said: “With Hunter and Herder, the University of Stuttgart continues its commitment to high-performance computing as the foundation of its successful excellence strategy. This expansion will especially strengthen Stuttgart’s leading position in research using computer simulation and AI.”
