Leibniz Supercomputing Center
The Leibniz Supercomputing Center (LRZ) in Germany has commissioned Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) to build an Nvidia-powered €250 million high-performance computer, “Blue Lion.”
The system will utilize the HPE Slingshot high-performance interconnect that transfers 400 gigabits of data per second and allows jobs to scale across the entire system. LRZ will also use HPE Performance Cluster Management software that monitors the system. HPE said Blue Lion will deliver approximately 30X more computing power (2), compared to SuperMUC-NG, the current LRZ HPC system.
Blue Lion will employ 100 percent direct liquid cooling in which 40°C warm water flows through the racks in copper pipes. The water-cooling system allows the waste heat from the system to be reused – LRZ already uses waste heat from its current supercomputer to heat its offices and could in future supply other organizations in the neighborhood while also reducing operating costs and carbon dioxide emissions. HPE added that Blue Lion will require less space because server cabinets can be packed much more densely.
The interaction of GPU accelerators and CPU cores in Blue Lion will be enabled by the HPE Cray Programming Environment, which will support migration of science code to the new system. To enable users to use the accelerated hardware efficiently, LRZ and HPE will offer workshops and courses in 2025. In addition, LRZ will increase its support team by 50 percent by the time Blue Lion goes into operation.
“Procuring a new supercomputer takes work, but it’s incredibly exciting,” said Prof. Dieter Kranzlmüller, head of LRZ. “We can already take a look into the future of supercomputing. This increases the anticipation and even more the excitement of how the scientific community will use this system to make even better progress into new realms of knowledge. After all, it’s not about having the fastest supercomputer, but about providing the best possible support for cutting-edge research with our high-performance infrastructure.”
The system will support research in Bavaria and, as a system of the Gauss Center for Supercomputing (GCS), will also be used for national science projects. The contracts were signed on December 13, 2024. The total costs of 250 million euros (1) are shared by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts (StMWK).
The system architecture is designed to execute and combine classic workflows from modeling and simulation with artificial intelligence methods, such as surrogate models for modelling of flows, turbulence or climate events, for which classic simulation calculations are combined with pattern recognition or statistical data analysis. The intent is to allow researchers to calculate more scenarios in less time or expand models with more complex calculations.
“Supercomputing plays a pivotal role for progress in science and society, as well as for national competitiveness,” Heiko Meyer, EVP and chief sales officer, HPE. “LRZ’s Blue Lion is another big step to reinforce Germany’s position as a leading region for supercomputing and AI innovation. Blue Lion will significantly advance LRZ‘s computing capacity and also position them in a cutting-edge position with next-generation technologies that will set new standards for the future of supercomputing.”
- Including operating costs until 2032
- Based on the High Performance Conjugate Gradients Benchmark (HPCG)
