The research high performance computer ForHLR II

In spring 2012, the application of the state of Baden-Württemberg and KIT for the procurement of a research high-performance computer (ForHLR) was approved.


The procurement was carried out in two phases:

Phase 1 included a computer (ForHLR I) with a global file system; installation took place in mid-2014 in the computer rooms of Campus South. The ForHLR I cluster was taken out of service in April 2020.

 

Phase 2 consists of the components buildings, computers, file systems and visualisation systems. The ForHLR II was set up in a newly constructed building on Campus North.

Prof. Peter Gumbsch (Director of the KIT and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Freiburg), Prof. Holger Hanselka (President of the KIT), Minister Theresia Bauer and Prof. Bernhard Neumair (Managing Director of the SCC) switched on the ForHLR II.

 

The second stage of the research high performance computer ForHLR was built together with a new computer building and a new visualization room. On March 4, 2016 the system was put into operation by Baden-Württemberg's Science Minister Theresia Bauer and the President of the KIT, Holger Hanselka, during a ceremony with colloquium.

 

Since 20th April 2016, the ForHLR (Phase) II research high performance computer, which is jointly funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the German government, has been in productive use by scientists.

 

The ForHLR II is a parallel computer equipped with Intel Xeon processors with more than 24,000 cores.

 

The allocation of computing time at ForHLR II is based on project proposals that are reviewed by a steering committee.

 

 

The high-performance computer ForHLR II enables scientists from all over Germany to work on complex application
problems. It ranks as a parallel computer of performance class 2 below the systems of the national supercomputer centres
and above the university cluster systems and is therefore suitable for application problems based on processor numbers from the middle 3-digit and in the 4-digit range.

Operational team of the ForHLR II in 2016

 

For the visualization of simulation results and data, rendering nodes and projection rooms are available at Campus North at the SCC
at your disposal. For method research and tool development there are special visualization computers and various special devices
like 3D scanners at the IVD.

 

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