Argonne details plans for new supercomputer

LEMONT - Argonne National Laboratory and Houston-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise Wednesday detailed plans for a new supercomputer named Polaris.

The Polaris system will be built by Hewlett-Packard and enable scientists and developers to test and optimize software codes and applications to tackle a range of artificial intelligence, engineering and scientific projects. It will also augment Argonne's ongoing efforts and achievements in areas such as clean energy, climate resilience and manufacturing.

Polaris will be a "testbed" system for the forthcoming exascale supercomputer, Aurora, a joint collaboration between Argonne, Intel and Hewlett-Packard, Argonne said.

"Beyond getting us ready for Aurora, Polaris will further provide a platform to experiment with the integration of supercomputers and large-scale experiment facilities, like the Advanced Photon Source, making (high performance computing) available to more scientific communities," said Michael E. Papka, director at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility.

The delivery and installation of Polaris is scheduled to begin this month. It will go into use starting early 2022.

"As we approach the exascale era, which will power a new age of insight and innovation, high performance computing will play a critical role in harnessing data to take on the world's most pressing challenges," said Justin Hotard, senior vice president and general manager of high performance computing and mission critical solutions at Hewlett-Packard.