Fujitsu Launches New PRIMEHPC Supercomputers Using Fugaku Technology

TOKYO, Nov 13, 2019 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited has announced that it will begin global sales(1) of the PRIMEHPC FX1000 and PRIMEHPC FX700 models from the "Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC" series, which utilize the technology of supercomputer Fugaku jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu. Shipment is scheduled for March 2020

Both products are equipped with the world's first CPU A64FX adopting Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) which is an extension of the Arm v8-A architecture for supercomputers. Moreover, the A64FX developed by inheriting the high-performance, low-power CPU design that Fujitsu has developed so far, provides high performance per watt. The CPU not only achieves a high memory bandwidth by using HBM2(2), a high-performance die-stacked memory, but also can handle half-precision arithmetic and multiply-add, which are important in such technologies as deep learning. In this way, the new supercomputers are expected to expand its use in the field of AI.

By developing and offering the new products, Fujitsu will contribute to solving social issues, accelerating leading-edge research and strengthen corporate competitiveness.

Product Features

With support for the same Tofu interconnect D as Fugaku for maximum scalability in large configurations, and ultra-dense implementation of up to 384 nodes per rack, FX1000 can efficiently build large systems that deliver theoretical computing performance in excess of 1.3 exaflops. This model uses a water-cooling system, aiming for high performance and reduced total energy consumption including in cooling.

FX700 is based on the standard technologies for supercomputer systems, supporting InfiniBand as an interconnect and using open-source software (OSS) for HPC middleware. By adopting an air-cooling system and a chassis that can be mounted in a standard server rack, this model is designed to be easily deployed for customers.

Contributing to the development of the Arm HPC Ecosystem

Fujitsu participates in open communities such as Arm Developer, Linaro and OpenHPC, devoting to develop the Arm HPC ecosystem by bringing the company's high-performance computing (HPC) technologies and knowledge to the community. In addition, Fujitsu plans to work with application vendors to be available commercial application software for PRIMEHPC, including the crash analysis application LS-DYNA(3), which is widely used worldwide.

By developing and offering high-performance supercomputers, Fujitsu will continue to contribute to the resolution of social issues, the promotion of leading-edge research, and the enhancement of corporate competitiveness. In particular, the company will develop new drugs, realize a safe and secure society through disaster prevention and reduction, while establishing no prototyping(4) in the development of new materials and manufacturing.

Endorsements

Comment by Chris Bergey, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm

The arm has leveraged our strategic collaboration with Fujitsu and RIKEN to evolve our architecture and advance the innovation and performance of Arm-based processors for HPC. We value Fujitsu's strong commitment to bringing their cutting edge A64FX chips to market with the announcement of the PRIMEHPC FX1000 and FX700 supercomputers and believe they are industry-leading building blocks for exascale systems.

Comment by Stefanie Chiras, Vice President and General Manager, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat

Today, Linux is synonymous with supercomputing, providing the scale and flexibility to fuel the next generation of innovative HPC applications. We're pleased to collaborate with Fujitsu in bringing the world's leading enterprise Linux platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, to its new line of supercomputing models, providing a more stable, reliable and supported open platform upon which advancements in data science, AI, scientific research and more can be based.

Notes:
(1) Begin global sales
For Japan, FX1000 starts at a minimum of 48 nodes, FX700 starts at a minimum of 2 nodes; for countries outside Japan, FX1000 starts at a minimum of 192 nodes and FX700 starts at a minimum of 128 nodes.
(2) The use of HBM2
The second generation of high bandwidth memory devices known as HBMs (High Bandwidth Memory). A64FX realizes a transfer speed much faster than conventional DDR4 by the maximum theoretical memory bandwidth exceeding 1 TB/s by mounting 4 stacks of HBM2 in the CPU package.
(3) LS-DYNA
Software developed by Livermore Software Technology Corporation and sold by Fujitsu for simulating large deformations of structures using the finite element method with explicit time integration. This highly reliable program is the world's leading software for use in the simulations of car crashworthiness, drop testing, metal/plastics forming, perforations, crack propagation, and failure, among other applications.
(4) No prototyping
This refers to minimal prototyping in product development by utilizing simulations to shorten development time and reduce costs.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 132,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (Code: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.0 trillion yen (the US $36 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.

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