Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has reaffirmed its leadership in the world of supercomputing by placing three of its systems at the top of the TOP500 ranking of the fastest supercomputers in the world, as announced at the SC24 conference in Atlanta. Additionally, eight of its systems stand out among the 15 most energy-efficient in the Green500 ranking, demonstrating the company’s commitment to innovation and sustainability.
El Capitan: The Fastest Supercomputer in the World
El Capitan, built by HPE for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), tops the global list with a performance of 1.742 exaflopsAn exaflop is a unit of measurement in supercomputing that …. This system is the most powerful of the three verified exascale supercomputers worldwide, all built by HPE. In addition to El Capitan, the Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory ranks second with 1.353 exaflops, while Aurora, located at Argonne National Laboratory, is in third place with 1.012 exaflops.
El Capitan not only stands out for its computational power but also for its focus on sustainability. With a 100% fanless liquid cooling system, it achieves an energy efficiency of 58.89 gigaflops per watt, placing it among the top 20 most energy-efficient supercomputers in the world according to the Green500.
Innovation in the United States and Europe
HPE technology not only leads in the United States but also powers the three most powerful systems in Europe, designed to tackle climate, energy, and scientific challenges. Prominent among them is the HPC6, built for the Italian energy company Eni, which debuted in fifth place on the TOP500 as the world’s most powerful enterprise supercomputer. This system is used for research related to the energy transition and is located in Eni’s eco-friendly data centerA data center or data processing center (DPC) … in Italy.
Other HPE supercomputers in Europe include:
- Alps, at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS), in seventh place, used for climate studies, astrophysics, and quantum chemistry.
- LUMI, in Finland, in eighth place, which supports climate simulation for the European Commission’s Destination Earth project.
Additionally, Tuolumne, a complementary system to El Capitan, ranks tenth and is dedicated to open research in areas such as climate modeling, computational drug discovery, and grid modernization.
Sustainable and Efficient Systems
The growing energy demand from high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) systems has made energy efficiency a priority. HPE leads this field with solutions such as its fanless direct liquid cooling architecture, which reduces energy consumption by up to 94% compared to traditional air conditioning systems.
Eight of the most energy-efficient supercomputers in the world, according to the Green500, were built by HPE, including:
- Adastra 2 (third place) in France.
- Isambard-AI phase 1 (fourth place) in the United Kingdom.
- Helios (seventh place) in Poland.
- El Dorado (thirteenth place) in the United States.
These innovations enable researchers to manage massive workloads while minimizing environmental impact, establishing HPE as a pioneer in technological sustainability.
A Motor for Scientific Research
HPE’s supercomputers are essential for solving complex global problems. From advancements in energy and national defense to discoveries in biomedicine, climate change, and astrophysics, HPE systems are accelerating the next wave of scientific innovation. For example, Frontier has been key in research on exotic materials, nuclear fusion, and cancer treatments, while Aurora is revolutionizing protein design and 3D brain mapping.
With 50 years of experience in supercomputing, HPE continues to forge partnerships with public and private institutions to push science and technology to new limits, driving discoveries that benefit society as a whole.