High Performance Computing (HPC) at RWTH Aachen University acts as a central building block to support the simulation sciences by enabling the development of scalable algorithms and software. Of central importance for innovation in business and society, RWTH High Performance Computing offers various services and research opportunities based on a first-class infrastructure. This means that HPC applications can be executed efficiently and in a scalable manner and large amounts of data can be processed securely and quickly.
Implementation is supported by projects such as JARA, HPC.NRW and, in particular, the National High Performance Computing Center for Computational Engineering Science (NHR4CES). You can read more under the category HPCnews on our blog.
Cluster Aix-la-Chapelle (CLAIX)
At the heart of the HPC ecosystem is the IT Center’s Aix-la-Chapelle cluster (CLAIX), which comprises various expansion stages. CLAIX-2023 was recently commissioned with state-of-the-art technology such as Intel Xeon Sapphire Rapids processors and NVIDIA H100 accelerators. This enables the execution of a wide range of applications ranging from engineering to artificial intelligence and machine learning.
CLAIX combines the various expansion stages of the high-performance computing (HPC) system and data storage at RWTH Aachen University. The current system consists of the expansion stages CLAIX-2023 and CLAIX-2018 and several file systems for different task areas.
Joining forces
The Computational Engineering Sciences (CES) at RWTH Aachen University form a focal point that spans engineering, materials science, physics, chemistry and computer science.
The HPC infrastructure and support projects at RWTH will be bundled to combine their individual strengths and create an HPC ecosystem that combines best practices of HPC and research data management.
HPC research around parallel programming and performance tools is carried out at the Chair of High Performance Computing (Computer Science 12) in the Department of Computer Science, which is closely linked to the IT Center. As part of the Association for National High Performance Computing in Germany (NHR), the high-performance computing center NHR4CES, founded in 2021, plays a decisive role in providing computing capacities for researchers at German universities. The NHR association offers a coordinated consulting service for methodological expertise in high-performance scientific computing. The aim is to help scientists at German universities to apply for computing capacity in order to strengthen their ability to use this resource efficiently.
The North Rhine-Westphalian Competence Network for High Performance Computing (HPC.NRW) is a competent and thematically broad-based contact and advice center for users of HPC systems in NRW.
The WestAI AI Service Center gives players from business and science access to AI models and high-performance AI computing infrastructures. It supports start-ups as well as small and medium-sized companies in using state-of-the-art AI technologies. The services are based on the well-known HPC offerings and range from detailed advice on individual AI challenges and their implementation to the opportunity to attend one of our numerous AI training courses.
Services of the RWTH High Performance Computing
Through the networks mentioned above, High Performance Computing offers a wide range of services and support for the successful use of our systems. This includes consulting, in particular the performance analysis and improvement of applications, training in high-performance computing and parallel programming, as well as comprehensive support in the use of CLAIX. These services are aimed at supporting researchers in their scientific fields of application and promoting the efficient use of the HPC system.
HPC Landing Page
The HPC landing page provides an overview of current research projects, the services and events on offer and information on the use of RWTH systems in order to create a central point of entry for all current and potential users and interested persons on the subject of RWTH High Performance Computing.
Would you like to take a closer look at RWTH High Performance Computing and learn more about it? Visit our landing page and get an overview.
Responsible for the content of this article are Christian Terboven and Janin Iglauer.
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