Bulgaria’s Discoverer is one of the world’s Top 100 supercomputers
The Bulgarian supercomputer Discoverer was ranked #91 in the TOP 500 chart of the world’s most high-performing machines (HPC). The machine is part of the European EuroHPC JU network and is situated in Bulgaria’s Sofia Tech Park.
Better than expected
During tests, which were conducted under specific conditions mandated for NGOs, Discoverer managed to outperform the expected 4,44 petaflops, reaching up to 4,518.9 petaflops. The absolute maximum productivity was calculated at 5,942.0 petaflops. These outstanding results rank the machine 66th in TOP 500’s additional HPCG category, which measures the convergence of HPC loads and artificial intelligence (AI), based on machine learning and deep learning, done through solving a system of linear equations, applying new algorithms with mixed precision that use modern hardware.
Discoverer was manufactured and delivered by Atos, making it the 36th supercomputer the company has made, which made it in the TOP 500. Aside from Bulgaria, Atos have their machines connected to the EuroHPC system in Italy, Slovenia, Luxemburg and Portugal. The new supercomputer has put the Balkan country on the world stage and is acting as a leading hub in South-Eastern Europe.
“Discoverer’s excellent position in the TOP 500 supercomputer rankings confirms that EuroHPC JU is working at full capacity. As the 27th most powerful supercomputer in the European Union, Discoverer is a leader in European HPC technology,” commented Anders Dam Jensen, CEO of EuroHPC. “When all seven EuroHPC JU supercomputers are online, we can expect 670 petaflops of computing power to be available for European research and innovation. They will support the development of flagship research, support the public sector, SMEs and industrial applications in many areas, and help to further the EU’s knowledge base in science, technology, machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analysis. high performance,” he added.
“We are very proud that the Atos team designed, delivered and implemented an extremely new supercomputer technology in Sofia Tech Park. This system, called Discoverer, is ranked as the 91st most powerful computer in the world. And according to HPCG indicators, it ranks 66th in the world. The machine is the most powerful in Southeast Europe. If we consider only Europe, Discoverer is in the top 30 of the most powerful supercomputers. This will provide a new opportunity for the development of the scientific community in Bulgaria and together with the help of trade partners will allow faster growth of the digital economy in this region,” said Tomas Hlavsa, head of the Big Data & Security division at Atos for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Why Bulgaria?
Discoverer will mainly be used for numerous scientific and innovative projects, to stimulate the industrial sector, with the help of simulations and models. The machine will also be available for private and public use in Bulgaria and the EU.
The computer will also be put to use for scientific research concentrated around biopharmacy, pharmacy, molecular dynamics and mechanics, quantum chemistry and biochemistry, artificial intelligence, personalized medicine, bioengineering, weather forecasting, the fight against climate change, etc.
Bulgaria’s computing capacity will be filled out with four more petascale supercomputers, part of the EuroHPC system, which will be located in Luxembourg, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and three of the pre-exascale supercomputers in Finland, Italy and Spain.
The main purpose of this European supercomputer system is to encourage scientific progress, create more favorable conditions for European economic development and expand Europe’s computing power.
