HPE unveils new supercomputing solutions for AI & HPC

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has revealed an expansion to its high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure portfolio with the introduction of new supercomputing solutions.

The new portfolio includes HPE Cray Supercomputing EX solutions and two systems designed to optimise large language model training, natural language processing, and multi-modal model training. These offerings are aimed at aiding global customers in expediting scientific research and innovation.

Trish Damkroger, Senior Vice President and General Manager of HPC & AI Infrastructure Solutions at HPE, highlighted the growing demand for high-performance computing in the AI sector. "Service providers and nations investing in sovereign AI initiatives are increasingly turning to high-performance computing as the critical backbone enabling large-scale AI training that accelerates discovery and innovation," said Damkroger. "Our customers turn to us to fast-track their AI system deployment to realise value faster and more efficiently by leveraging our world-leading HPC solutions and decades of experience in delivering, deploying and servicing fully-integrated systems."

HPE's Cray Supercomputing EX series features innovations such as a 100% fanless direct liquid cooling system architecture and provides a range of offerings aimed at research institutions and government entities. The Cray Supercomputing EX4252 Gen 2 Compute Blade, capable of delivering up to 98,304 cores in a single cabinet, is set to be available by Spring 2025. Additionally, the EX154n Accelerator Blade, supporting up to 224 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, is expected by the end of 2025, designed to improve supercomputing workload efficiency.

The HPE Slingshot interconnect 400 offers network interface controllers, cables, and switches at 400 gigabit-per-second speeds, doubling the line speed of its predecessor, and is set to be available for clusters based on HPE Cray Supercomputing EX systems by Fall 2025. Also included in the portfolio are the HPE Cray Supercomputing Storage Systems E2000 and the HPE Cray Supercomputing User Services Software.

In the realm of AI model training and tuning, HPE has introduced a new server family, the HPE ProLiant Compute XD, designed to streamline the deployment of AI clusters, particularly for service providers and large enterprises. The ProLiant Compute XD680, air-cooled and housing Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators, is projected for release in December 2024. Meanwhile, the XD685 server, featuring NVIDIA GPUs and utilising liquid cooling technology, is anticipated in early 2025.

These developments in HPE's portfolio aim to support both traditional and emerging supercomputing customers leveraging AI models for enhanced scientific discovery and advanced computing tasks. These advances demonstrate HPE's commitment to meeting evolving customer needs in AI and HPC technologies.