Empowering Europe’s High-Performance Computing Ecosystem: Leveraging ARM Systems and Software Solutions

Europe is striving to showcase its ability in constructing ARM-based systems and developing a software stack tailored to meet diverse European HPC needs. The significance of building and operating high-performance supercomputers is now crucial in shaping Europe’s technological independence and global standing. With substantial investments coming from the United States and Asia, Europe is faced with the challenge of advancing its own technologies while remaining competitive on a global scale.

EUPEX, a European initiative backed by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, addresses this challenge directly by creating a pilot supercomputing platform entirely based on European technologies, from hardware to software. This platform will utilize new ARM-based processors designed to meet the performance, energy efficiency, and scalability requirements of next-generation HPC systems, marking a significant step towards Europe’s computing independence.

The pilot project will integrate these processors into a modular architecture and pair them with European-developed software solutions, creating a realistic environment to test readiness, scalability, and operational reliability. The primary goal of the EUPEX Pilot is not only to demonstrate Europe’s ability to deliver competitive, high-performance supercomputing infrastructures but also to cultivate and exhibit European expertise in microelectronics, system architecture, and HPC software. Additionally, the project aims to prepare applications and European users to effectively utilize future Exascale machines by offering opportunities for co-design and early testing of workflows and software on the new platform.

By bringing together leading European research centers, technology providers, and industrial partners, EUPEX Pilot sets the stage for the next generation of European supercomputers, proving that a fully European stack can operate at scale and laying the groundwork for larger, sovereign HPC systems. The EUPEX Consortium comprises 17 diverse European organizations, each contributing unique expertise to the construction of a fully European HPC ecosystem. This consortium includes established technology suppliers, research institutions, national supercomputing centers, industrial innovators, and application stakeholders, all coordinated by Eviden to ensure that research and development efforts translate into industrialized solutions based on European technologies.

The EUPEX Pilot System is designed around a hardware-software co-design approach aimed at delivering a modular and flexible European HPC platform. It integrates the expertise of the consortium into a coherent system capable of meeting the requirements of current and emerging scientific applications. On the hardware side, the platform follows the Modular Supercomputing Architecture (MSA) paradigm, allowing heterogeneous computing resources to be combined within a single system. This modular design provides the flexibility to integrate different technologies as they become available.

The EUPEX system focuses on deploying an ARM-based pilot platform at production-class scale, using processors like the Rhea chip developed by SiPearl as part of the European Processor Initiative (EPI). By running these technologies under realistic system conditions, the project can assess performance, energy efficiency, and integration challenges in a controlled but representative HPC environment. The EUPEX Pilot also emphasizes the software stack, a crucial element for effectively exploiting modular, ARM-based HPC systems. Beyond performance considerations, the project addresses the strategic need for a European software ecosystem that does not rely on non-European technologies.

The EUPEX Software Stack is a comprehensive ecosystem spanning all levels of a modern HPC system. It includes components for system management, execution environments, performance tuning, monitoring, energy management, and I/O stack. The stack actively integrates these components in a co-design approach, interacting closely with applications and the continued development of the Pilot System.

EUPEX has developed and integrated a wide range of tools that showcase the breadth and depth of the software stack. At the system level, Ocean serves as the central provisioning and integration framework, while ParaStation Modulo provides cluster management and resource scheduling capabilities. At the execution and performance level, tools like ParaStation MPI with RRComm, ACCO, libVC, and StreamFlow demonstrate innovation in scalability and efficiency. In the area of storage and I/O, solutions such as CAPIO, DAMARIS, and Fennec showcase EUPEX’s focus on data-intensive workloads, security, and efficient data movement.

Ensuring broad user adoption and long-term exploitation of the EUPEX Software Stack is a key priority for the project. To support this, EUPEX has established an Early Access Program (EAP) aimed at building a community of users around EUPEX software components and collecting user feedback. The project is also working on aligning with established European software distribution ecosystems to make the software stack accessible to a broader community.

EUPEX plans to increase the visibility of the EUPEX Software Stack within the broader HPC community through active participation in major international events, targeted dissemination activities, and publication of high-quality scientific papers. The project will also organize dedicated workshops and tutorials at major European HPC conferences to showcase the software stack and engage with the research community.

As EUPEX enters its final phase, dissemination and community engagement, particularly regarding the EUPEX Software Stack, take center stage. The project aims to share its results, tools, and experience with the European HPC community through initiatives like the Early Access Program and webinars. EUPEX also plans to organize workshops and tutorials at major European HPC conferences to highlight the software stack’s architecture, components, and capabilities. By actively engaging with the HPC community, EUPEX aims to prepare users for future European systems and foster collaboration and innovation in the dynamic HPC landscape.