STFC Hartree Centre Teams Up With Lenovo For A Groundbreaking Supercomputer

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has embarked on a significant collaboration with Lenovo, marking a pivotal moment in the advancement of supercomputing capabilities within the UK. This partnership will see the installation of the Lenovo ThinkSystem Neptune supercomputer at the STFC Hartree Centre. Notably, this new addition is poised to be ten times more potent than its predecessor, incorporating direct water cooling technology to notably reduce electricity consumption.

As part of the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation (HNCDI) program, the Lenovo ThinkSystem Neptune will play a crucial role in supporting AI research for UK industry. This initiative is designed to grant UK industry access to cutting-edge digital technologies and expertise. The installation of this supercomputer is scheduled for later this year at the Hartree Centre's new supercomputing center, which is currently under construction.

The Lenovo ThinkSystem Neptune boasts an impressive processing power of 44.7 petaflops, enabling it to execute over 44 quadrillion floating point operations per second. Its GPU-based architecture makes it particularly suited for AI workloads. Moreover, this supercomputer is designed to be more power-efficient, occupying less space and utilizing less electricity per unit of performance, thanks to its warm water cooling technology. This innovative approach can reduce energy demands by up to 40% and enhance performance by up to 10%.

Located at STFC's Daresbury Laboratory, the Hartree Centre stands as the UK's sole supercomputing center dedicated to industry engagement. The introduction of this new supercomputer is expected to catalyze innovation across various industry use cases and applications. These include weather and climate modeling, cleaner energy initiatives, drug discovery, health technologies, new materials development, and automotive advancements. It will also aid the UK Atomic Energy Authority in researching new reactors for clean nuclear fusion energy.

Kate Royse, Director of the STFC Hartree Centre, shared her enthusiasm about the collaboration with Lenovo and the transformative potential of the new supercomputer for UK industry. Noam Rosen, EMEA Director HPC/AI at Lenovo, emphasized the importance of creating a powerful system tailored to meet the specific needs of the Hartree Centre and its role in driving innovation in big data and AI technologies. Mark Thomson, Executive Chair of STFC, highlighted the collaboration's expected impact on supporting UK businesses, fostering economic growth, and creating job opportunities.

In terms of specifications, the Lenovo ThinkSystem Neptune can perform calculations equivalent to those of 20,790 top-of-the-range smartphones. It has the capacity to store 4,500 hours of 4k video in its working memory and 60,000 hours of 4k video on its hard disks. Lenovo stands as a global technology leader committed to delivering smarter technology for all. The STFC is a part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and supports research across various scientific disciplines. The STFC Hartree Centre is instrumental in helping UK businesses leverage supercomputing, data analytics, and AI technologies to boost productivity and drive innovation.