Atos Increases Galician Supercomputing Center’s HPC Capacity 12x with ‘Finisterrae III’

Atos has followed up its acquisition of HPC cloud platform provider Nimbix, announced last week, with the news that it has been selected by the Galician Supercomputing Center (CESGA) to deliver  the “Finisterrae III” supercomputing system based on Atos’ BullSequana X supercomputing architecture. Atos said the system will multiply the supercomputing resources of the center, located in northwest Spain, by 12 while significantly increasing storage capacity. The contract also includes a 30-qubit Atos Quantum Learning Machine (Atos QLM30), “which places CESGA as a pioneer in Spain in quantum simulation,” Atos said.

CESGA will use the supercomputer for research projects in collaboration with university and industry researchers in Galicia for various strategic areas of science and technology such as nanotechnology, new materials and industrial processes, health and life sciences and ocean sciences. It will also promote the use of HPC and Big Data in SMEs.

The system will support machine/deep learning techniques and promote Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Digital Innovation Hub of Galicia, bringing supercomputing techniques to public administrations and extending the use of supercomputing to other areas of knowledge, such as social sciences and humanities.

“The basic design principle of the Finisterrae III project is to provide a convenient, open, efficient, flexible, and adaptable infrastructure for different computational paradigms,” Atos said in its announcement. “In this sense, the project will provide access to emerging technologies, especially Quantum Computing, thanks to the Atos QLM, which will enable technicians, developers, and users to train on the machine.”

“We are proud to provide CESGA with this new supercomputing system designed with the latest technologies which is also a reliable and high-performance tool that contributes to the advancement of science and technology”, said Agnès Boudot, SVP, Head of HPC & Quantum at Atos. “With this new contract Atos confirms its expertise in delivering high-performance computing solutions, opening computing new horizons to the constantly demanding needs of our customers.”

The Atos QLM is a simulator designed to enable users to develop and test quantum applications. “Combining an ultra-compact, high-powered machine with a universal programming language. It enables researchers and engineers to develop and experiment with quantum software and is the world’s only quantum software development and simulation apparatus,” Atos said. “The system simulates the laws of physics, which are at the heart of quantum computing, to calculate the exact execution of a quantum program with double-digit precision.”

For more information on the Finisterrae III project, visit the CESGA website: https://www.cesga.es/en/what-we-do/supercomputing/