Europe formally introduced its second exascale system, Alice Recoque, and you may count on to see that identify on the Top500 supercomputer record in just a few years. Alice Recoque is the brand new identify for a supercomputer with the working identify Jules Verne. The supercomputer is called after a celebrated French scientist and AI pioneer.
The supercomputer will price about €544 million. It will likely be put in at CEA’s TGCC supercomputing heart at Bruyères-le-Châtel, about 25 miles south of Paris. The Jules Verne consortium, which incorporates France’s GENCI and the Netherlands’ SURF, will function the system.
Right here’s what we all know in regards to the supercomputer:
– The EuroHPC JU hasn’t given a transparent launch date, however different European tech companies projected 2026 for the system to go dwell. Nevertheless, primarily based on previous protection, HPCwire expects the system to be absolutely operational in 2027 or 2028.
– Alice Recoque is Europe’s second exascale system after Jupiter, which is being put in in Germany and will go dwell in 2024 or subsequent yr.
– Europe has many targets with the second supercomputer. “We’re wanting round and making an attempt to know what stage of ambition we are able to have there, however the goal is for the system … to have an extra enhance in European know-how in comparison with what we managed to do in Jupiter,” mentioned Anders Dam Jensen, govt director for the EuroHPC JU, throughout a presentation at ISC 2024.
– One native European know-how will likely be SiPearl’s ARM-based Rhea-2 chip, which is able to succeed the Rhea-1 chip in Jupiter.
– The Rhea-1 chip is present process a redesign to incorporate Samsung’s HBM reminiscence, which wasn’t a part of the unique chip design. That has delayed the cargo date for the chip, and SiPearl may very well be concurrently updating the Rhea-2 chip design, which can not have an effect on its cargo date.
– Alice Recoque will likely be for AI and high-precision HPC.
– Like Jupiter, Alice Recoque has a modular design. A system with Rhea-2 CPUs will act as a nerve heart onto which modules corresponding to GPU-accelerated and quantum computing programs will be added.
– EuroHPC JU additionally needs to make use of accelerators developed by EPI (European Processor Initiative) corresponding to EPAC, which is a RISC-V primarily based vector accelerator.
– Europe is a reluctant backer of ARM-based CPUs however in the end needs high-performance computer systems working on RISC-V chips. Nevertheless, the Alice Recoque supercomputer proves that RISC-V isn’t prepared for primetime in HPC.
– Atos will construct the system, which will likely be geared in the direction of generative AI, safety, local weather research, and power administration, that are priorities in Europe.
– Europe has no plans but for a 3rd exascale system. EuroHPC JU leaders are as an alternative specializing in “post-exascale programs”. Zettascale programs had been by no means a part of EuroHPC JU plans, and it appears they perceive the technological limitations of exascale programs.
– EuroHPC JU is funneling extra money into quantum computing programs, which will likely be put in at six computing websites. The group additionally connects all 29 high-performance programs in Europe, together with Lumi in Finland and Leonardo in Italy.
– Europe can be making important upgrades to present supercomputers. “We’re not standing nonetheless… we are going to begin a really important improve of the Leonardo system,” Dam Jensen mentioned at ISC.