The ‘Otus’ high-performance computer, installed at Paderborn University in 2025, is set to receive a significant performance boost: Additional computing nodes and storage capacity will enable the HPC (High-Performance Computing) system to solve even more computationally intensive scientific and technical problems in future. Over 12 million euros in state and federal funding has been made available for the expansion. The purchase agreement with pro-com DATENSYSTEME GmbH for the expansion of the Lenovo system has now been finalised. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2026.
The increased capacity will primarily benefit research areas requiring significant computing power – particularly in Physics and chemistry, for example in materials research or molecular simulations, as well as in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. “Through this investment, North Rhine-Westphalia is securing its excellence in high-performance computing and continues to position Paderborn as one of the leading HPC locations in Germany,” says Prof. Dr Christian Plessl, Director of the Paderborn Centre for Parallel Computing (PC2), which houses the data centres. The total investment will benefit, in proportion, the state-wide hpcFachCluster.nrw and the nationwide Network for National High Performance Computing (NHR).
Technical highlights
The existing system is being enhanced with additional high-performance CPU computing nodes based on AMD processors, featuring increased main memory capacities. Furthermore, there is a particular focus on GPU expansion: In addition to several extra GPU computing nodes featuring AMD processors and NVIDIA Hopper GPUs, a further partition comprising innovative GPU computing nodes based on NVIDIA’s new technology – consisting of ARM processors and B200 GPUs – will be installed. Furthermore, the IBM mass storage system is being expanded both technically and in terms of capacity.
NHR Conference in Paderborn
From 14 to 17 September, researchers, engineers and decision-makers from across Germany will gather in Paderborn to discuss the current state of high-performance computing in Germany. There are nine NHR Centres across Germany, including Paderborn University. The conference will focus, amongst other things, on how artificial intelligence (AI), atomic simulations and new hardware technologies are shaping the digital future. Registrations are open until 6 September; some workshops are open to the general public. Further information and the registration form can be found at: www.nhr-verein.de/events-trainings/nhr-conference/
This text was translated automatically.
