The supercomputer is based on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)’s Cray Supercomputing EX4000 architecture and is powered by AMD’s Instinct APUs — combining CPU cores and GPUs into one integrated unit.
Hunter cost €15 million (US$15.4 million) and boasts a theoretical peak performance of 48.1 petaflops, or 48,100 trillion calculations every second — almost double the university’s flagship supercomputer, Hawk.
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“Hunter offers scientists at the University of Stuttgart and across Germany a future-proof infrastructure for AI-based simulations and high-performance computing of a new quality,” said Prof. Peter Middendorf, Rector of the University of Stuttgart. “Hunter also benefits the entire ecosystem of our university with its global players, its strong medium-sized companies, and its growing startup scene.”
Hunter, which will be housed in the university’s High-Performance Computing Centre (HLRS), leverages the HPE Cray Supercomputing Storage Systems E2000 to meet intense input/output (I/O) requirements, while HPE software will help debug and tune applications running on the supercomputer at scale.
The supercomputer uses 100% fanless direct liquid cooling, providing the university with enhanced energy and cost efficiency for running large-scale AI deployments, consuming 80% less energy at peak performance than its predecessor.
“The rapid development of AI and an increasing focus on sustainability in supercomputing mean that high-performance computing is currently going through an exciting, transformative period,” said Professor Michael Resch, director of HLRS. “With Hunter, our user community gains a state-of-the-art infrastructure that will support them in navigating this changing HPC landscape and enable them to remain competitive at the frontiers of scientific discovery and industrial innovation.”
Stuttgart-based AI startup Seedbox.ai has already begun using the new supercomputer during test phases to train new large language models spanning 24 European languages. Seedbox plans to open source the models to power continental agentic AI applications.
Hunter will also act as the backbone for the initial phases of HammerHAI, a German AI Factory. The EuroHPC project, which will launch later this year, aims to develop solutions and services to lower the barrier to entry for European AI development.
Petra Olschowski, German Minister of Science, Research and Art of the State of Baden-Württemberg, said: “A high-performance computer like the new Hunter is not simply a technical innovation — more importantly, it is necessary for the future capabilities of our country and a key to progress in science and industry. This in turn is a foundation for our prosperity.”
Brad McCredie, SVP for data centre engineering at AMD, said: “We are pleased with the longstanding successful collaboration with HLRS and excited to power Hunter as one of the most advanced supercomputers in Germany using AMD Instinct MI300A APUs.
“Together with the teams at HPE and HLRS, we are proud to be paving the way toward the exascale era.”
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