Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) today announced plans to build its first factory in Europe for high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The company said the dedicated HPC factory, the fourth such site globally, will be located in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, next to HPE’s existing European site for manufacturing servers and storage solutions. Operations will begin in summer 2022.
The new site will manufacture two main product lines, the HPE Apollo systems for demanding HPC and AI applications and for AI modeling and training, and HPE Cray EX supercomputers, designed to support next-generation, high-end supercomputing to deliver unprecedented performance to tackle the world’s challenging scientific and AI tasks.
The factory is also designed to meet specific manufacturing requirements of HPE’s liquid-cooled HPC and AI systems. The factory features a floor reinforced to withstand the weight of HPE Cray EX supercomputers, which are up to 8,000 pounds (3,628 kilograms) per cabinet, and includes a water circuit between the supercomputers and the roof of the building to help cool down hot water.
HPE’s manufacturing service partner, Foxconn, will support the site’s product manufacturing and shipping as it currently does for HPE’s main site in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic.
The factory will support HPE‘s collaborations in Europe, including the European HPC Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), an initiative between the EU, European countries and industry technology partners to coordinate resources to develop pre-exascale and exascale supercomputers in Europe. Through the Joint Undertaking, HPE has built the LUMI supercomputer for CSC – IT Center for Science in Finland, considered to be a “pre-exascale” supercomputer, and the Karolina supercomputer for IT4Innovations in Czech Republic.
HPE said it also is committed to supporting local European initiatives in HPC and AI, and has invested in R&D initiatives such as its Center of Excellence in Grenoble, France, which is open to a broader community of scientists, researchers and engineers to test and build next-generation solutions. HPE is also building on its efforts in support of France’s “AI for Humanity” program, announced in March 2018 by French President Emmanuel Macron. HPE has expanded its AI partnerships in France with the upcoming Adastra supercomputer for GENCI-CINES, the Jean Zay supercomputer for GENCI and a supercomputer for Maison de l’Intelligence Artificielle.
“When European organizations adopt next-generation supercomputing, they gain a powerful foundation to seize opportunities of exponential data growth to accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen digital sovereignty and unlock innovations to deliver greater economic value,” said Justin Hotard, executive vice president and general manager, HPC & AI, at HPE. “HPE is committed to continue supporting Europe in this endeavor and our new HPC factory in Kutná Hora, Czech Republic, is another significant investment, among our other R&D initiatives, that we have made in Europe. We are now able to manufacture the industry’s leading supercomputing, HPC, and AI systems, while increasing supply chain viability and resiliency.”
