Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced on May 18 that it is building its first facility in Europe designed to support the development of exascale-class supercomputers and intelligence systems. The new facility will accelerate customer deliveries and strengthen the supplier ecosystem, as well as advance scientific research, AL/ML initiatives and support innovation.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise was formed from the November 2015 spin-off of Hewlett-Packard. It brings together the latter’s server, networking, storage, software and business services businesses. The dedicated HPC plant, which will begin construction next summer in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, will be the fourth of HPE’s global HPC manufacturing facilities. It will be located near its server and storage manufacturing facility.
Justin Hotard, executive vice president and general manager, HPC & AI, at HPE, said:
“When European organizations embrace next-generation supercomputing, they gain a powerful foundation to seize the opportunities of exponential data growth to accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen digital sovereignty and unlock innovation to deliver greater economic value. HPE is committed to continuing to support Europe in this endeavor, and our new HPC facility in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, is another important investment, among our other R&D initiatives, that we have made in Europe. We are now able to manufacture industry-leading supercomputing, HPC and AI systems, while increasing supply chain viability and resiliency.”
Strengthening Europe’s leadership in supercomputing and AI
Supercomputing enables us to understand and address complex challenges. It is already playing a major role in the field of healthcare: it is being used to develop and target personalized medical therapies for patients suffering from cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s or rare genetic diseases, as well as to discover new drugs. It is also used to better anticipate the effects of global warming, to warn before the arrival of floods, storms or typhoons, thanks to simulations.
Access to next-generation data-driven technologies is essential for Europe if it is to achieve digital sovereignty.
HPE has strong collaborations in Europe, including the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), a legal and funding entity created in 2018, based in Luxembourg, to lead the way in European supercomputing.
As part of EuroHPC JU, HPE designed and built the LUMI supercomputer for CSC – IT Center for Science in Finland, based on its Cray EX architecture, considered a “pre-exascale” supercomputer that is expected to reach 550 petaflops, or just over half of an exaflop, and the Karolina supercomputer for IT4Innovations in the Czech Republic.
In addition, HPE has invested in R&D initiatives such as its Center of Excellence in Grenoble and supports the AI for Humanity initiative to advance industry and boost economic growth. To this end, the company has expanded its AI partnerships in France for the upcoming Adastra supercomputer for GENCI-CINES, the Jean Zay supercomputer for GENCI and a supercomputer for the Maison de l’Intelligence Artificielle.
The European site for HPC and AI solutions
The Kutná Hora facility will manufacture and ship two main product lines:
- HPE Apollo systems, for demanding HPC and AI applications, as well as artificial intelligence modeling and training,
- HPE Cray EX supercomputers, designed to support the next generation of supercomputers to deliver unprecedented performance and tackle the most complex scientific and AI tasks.
The two product lines each offer end-to-end HPC and AI capabilities, covering computing, accelerated computing, software, networking, storage, and liquid cooling capabilities.
The facility is also designed to meet the specific manufacturing requirements of HPE’s liquid-cooled HPC and AI systems, which are ideal cooling options for high-performance systems. The floor has been reinforced to support the weight of HPE Cray EX supercomputers, which weigh up to 3,628 kg per cabinet, and a water loop between the supercomputers and the building’s roof helps cool the hot water.
Foxconn, a long-time HPE partner, will handle manufacturing and shipping of the products to fulfill orders from HPE customers in Europe, as it already does for HPE’s main site in Kutná Hora.
Translated from Hewlett Packard Entreprise annonce la construction de sa première usine dédiée au HPC et à l’IA en Europe
