LUMI

LUMI. LUMI is a pre-exascale supercomputer hosted in Finland and one of the world's most powerful high-performance computing systems. It is a key resource of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, designed to support a wide range of scientific and industrial research across Europe. The system is celebrated for its exceptional energy efficiency, utilizing renewable energy sources and waste heat recovery in its operations.

Overview

LUMI, an acronym for Large Unified Modern Infrastructure, represents a cornerstone of European Union's digital and research strategy. Situated within the CSC – IT Center for Science data center in Kajaani, it serves researchers from the EuroHPC member states and associated countries. The system is partitioned into multiple segments, including a massive GPU-accelerated partition for artificial intelligence and simulation workloads, alongside CPU-based sections for more traditional high-performance computing tasks. Its establishment strengthens the Nordic countries' position in global scientific computing and supports the goals of the European Green Deal through its sustainable design.

Technical specifications

The system is built on the HPE Cray EX platform, integrating advanced AMD processors and AMD Instinct accelerators. Its peak performance approaches 380 petaFLOPS, as measured by the LINPACK benchmark, placing it consistently among the top systems on the TOP500 list. A significant portion of its compute power is derived from over 10,000 GPU nodes, making it particularly adept for workloads in machine learning and computational fluid dynamics. The storage hierarchy is anchored by the Cray ClusterStor Lustre system, providing over 80 petabytes of capacity with extremely high bandwidth. The entire infrastructure is cooled using free cooling techniques from the surrounding Kajaani climate and is powered by carbon-neutral hydropower.

History and development

The project was initiated under the framework of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, which was established by a European Commission regulation in 2018. A consortium of ten European countries, including Finland, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, committed to the procurement and hosting. The contract to build LUMI was awarded to Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2020, following a competitive tendering process. Installation and integration took place at the specially renovated CSC – IT Center for Science facility in 2021, with the system entering full production for users in early 2022. Its development timeline paralleled other EuroHPC flagship systems like LEONARDO in Italy and MareNostrum 5 in Spain.

Scientific impact and usage

LUMI enables groundbreaking research across numerous disciplines, allocating resources through peer-reviewed proposals. In climate science, it runs high-resolution models from institutions like the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to improve predictions. For materials science, researchers use it for quantum mechanics simulations to discover new compounds, supporting initiatives like the European Materials Modelling Council. The GPU partition is heavily used for training large language models and for drug discovery projects, including those targeting diseases like Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, it facilitates research in astrophysics, such as simulations of black hole mergers, and in engineering for designing more efficient wind turbines.

Governance and funding

Governance is managed by the LUMI Consortium, comprising the participating states within the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. The host country, Finland, through CSC – IT Center for Science, operates the physical infrastructure. Strategic direction and access policies are set by the EuroHPC Governing Board, which includes representatives from each member state and the European Commission. The total investment of approximately €144.5 million is co-funded, with the EuroHPC JU covering 50% and the consortium of ten countries providing the remainder. Operational costs are shared among the partner nations based on their financial contribution and usage rights.

Category:Supercomputers Category:EuroHPC Joint Undertaking Category:Science and technology in Finland Category:2021 establishments in Finland