Hosts Europe’s first exascale supercomputer
[SPONSORED GUEST ARTICLE] As scientific and industrial computations become increasingly complex, the demand for vast amounts of computing power is rapidly increasing. In pursuit of Europe’s first exascale supercomputing ambitions, Jupiter (Jointment Uundertake Pfor ionia Iinnovative Tdeformed Ethe scale Research) combines the collaborative strength of the European High Performance Computing Joint Venture (EuroHPC JU), the expertise of the Jülich Supercomputing Center and Eviden’s cutting-edge approach. JUPITER is designed to tackle the most demanding simulation and compute-intensive AI applications in science and industry.
Additionally, the data center hosting JUPITER is subject to regulatory rules, environmental considerations including energy efficiency, rigorous resiliency in the event of problems, tight schedules, and limited budgets in terms of both power equipment and construction materials. Additional challenges must also be overcome, such as:
Why modular data centers matter
Recognizing these challenges, the JUPITER project emphasized the importance of innovative solutions, leading to the adoption of a modular data center approach. Modular data centers represent a paradigm shift in the way computing infrastructure is conceived and built. These solutions are built from pre-built and replaceable modules, ranging from IT containers to power supply containers to logistics containers. These are combined to form a comprehensive turnkey data center. A modular approach not only provides flexibility and agility, but also facilitates smoother updates and replacement of individual modules, independent of the rest of the system.
Professor Thomas Lippert, Director of Jülich National Park Jülich Supercomputing Center, emphasized: “JUPITER will likely become the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer. Its modular computer architecture allows for particularly high levels of energy efficiency. However, its vast computing power will require energy supply demands. The modular data center will enable the rapid construction of such a supply infrastructure, allowing the thermal energy generated during cooling to be used to heat the Jülich campus. We are also happy to have the possibility to utilize it.”
Eviden’s vision and approach
Over the past 15 years, the company has designed and delivered solutions for a variety of modular data center deployments, with over 100 operational modules in use worldwide. The Eviden plant in Angers, France, specializes in the integration and testing of modules with embedded IT equipment and plays a key role in ensuring efficient and reliable production processes.
flexibility and agility
Eviden’s approach is centered around the concept of modular data centers, including IT containers for computing power, power containers for energy requirements, and logistics containers to support data centers with spare parts storage, workshops, and integrated distribution. , includes approximately 50 pre-built modules. facility.
This approach provides unparalleled flexibility and allows for seamless updates and replacement of specific modules without causing system-wide disruption. This flexibility is particularly advantageous as JUPITER seeks agile and adaptable data center solutions that can evolve with changing technology needs. The modular design promotes efficient scalability, allowing you to expand JUPITER’s computing power and energy capacity by adding or replacing modules as needed, avoiding the need for major overhauls or downtime. Masu.
Accelerate deployment and reduce costs
A modular approach speeds deployment by leveraging pre-assembled modules, significantly reducing the time required to set up a fully functional data center. This quick deployment is critical to her JUPITER, which needs quick access to computing resources without prolonging construction schedules.
Additionally, the modular design contributes to cost-effectiveness, allowing JUPITER to optimize investments by expanding or upgrading specific modules in stages and adjusting costs to match actual computing and energy needs. This is in contrast to traditional data centers, where large-scale upgrades often require large upfront costs. Compared to traditional “bricks and mortar” data centers, this innovative and flexible approach reduces costs by 3% and delivery times by 50% to provide a complete end-to-end HPC solution for Eviden. Demonstrates integrative ability.
Environmental efficiency and energy consumption
Modular data centers address the growing importance of eco-efficiency in HPC systems. Eviden’s best-in-class BullSequana XH3000 direct liquid cooling (DLC) architecture is fused with an insulated tower to provide a free cooling solution in most cases despite JUPITER’s massive computing power.
Furthermore, the heat produced by JUPITER will be fed into Forschungszentrum Jülich’s existing heat reuse network. This heat recycling mechanism is also designed and constructed in a modular manner, allowing for further expansion as needs grow.
A no-compromise solution
Despite the faster approach and lower TCO, modular data centers are no better than traditional DCs.
- Power redundancy and resiliency: UPS and generators for short-term power outages ensure continuity of power supply and at least preserve ongoing calculations in the worst case scenario (no power for several hours).
- Redundancy of the water supply for the cooling system with two sources: local river water and backup from the public network
- Complete water treatment ensures no toxins are released into the environment.
- State-of-the-art fire protection equipment. Access control, intrusion detection and monitoring, automated building technology management.
Improved reliability through Eviden’s manufacturing facility in Angers, France
Eviden’s factory in Angers, France, plays a key role in the manufacturing and integration process. JUPITER HPC racks, cooling systems, power infrastructure, networks, and cabling are installed and tested directly on the factory floor. Once the integrated module arrives at the Jülich concentration camp facility, the final setup will be easier and less likely to cause problems. Therefore, this approach not only speeds up the installation process, but also reduces the risk of potential problems during delivery to the customer.
conclusion
Through this unique modular concept, Eviden has built around 50 pre-built containers, including 20 IT containers, 15 power supply containers and 10 logistics containers (lobbies, workshops, warehouses, etc.), covering more than 2,300 square meters. It integrates a set of interchangeable modules. Create a complete turnkey data center.
As technology continues to evolve, the joint efforts of EuroHPC JU, Jülich Supercomputing Center and Eviden are paving the way to a more sustainable, flexible and efficient future in HPC. JUPITER’s modular data center approach is more than just the debut of the first European exascale supercomputer using unconventional methods. This represents a pivotal moment in Europe’s pursuit of leadership in the world’s HPC environment.
About the author:
Tanguy Jimenez Modular Data Center at Eviden – HPC, AI, Quantum Project Manager. Data Center With over 15 years of experience in infrastructure, Tanguy Gimenez currently specializes in building scalable modular structures dedicated to high performance computing. He has successfully completed numerous projects, including the CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission) modular data center “EXA1 supercomputer”. This modular data center is believed to be the largest modular data center installed in the world to date. Mr. Tanguy is pleased to be part of the “EuroHPC JUPITER” project, which will be the first European system to achieve 1 exaflops, with the support of skilled team members. In this project, he manages the team responsible for the provision of a modular data center for Jülich’s supercomputing center that will house his JUPITER.
