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ASUS Establishes NationalLevel Supercomputing Center, FORERUNNER 1

  • Customer: NCHC, National Center for High-performance computing, National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs)
  • Location: Taiwan
  • Industry: Supercomputing

Project background

The National Center for High-performance computing (NCHC) plays a leading role in Taiwan’s cloud technology services by integrating high performance computing (HPC), storage, and networking to provide cloud services in storage, big data analysis, and scientific and engineering simulation. Forerunner 1 is the latest high-performance computing (HPC) system built by NCHC. The overall optimal performance is approximately 3.5 PFlops (#92 in the Green 500, November 2023). This platform delivers real-time and convenient computing services to industries, universities, and widely applicable to various research fields such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, atmospheric sciences, engineering applications, and life sciences.

The challenge

ASUS won the FORERUNNER 1 project to be responsible for this ambitious project, but starting from scratch presented numerous challenges. FORERUNNER 1 is designed as a replacement for TAIWANIA 1, and is intended to provide the resources needed by all walks of life for supercomputing workloads. These include research topics such as climate prediction, astrophysics simulation, molecular model simulation, engineering design and simulation – and many more applications besides.

Our solution

ASUS managed the construction of the supercomputing infrastructure, which involved data center construction, cabinet installation, testing and onboarding. Rigorous testing ensured optimal performance. Additionally, ASUS meticulously designed the HPC portal architecture. To create a greener FORERUNNER 1 supercomputing system, ASUS refined the liquid-cooling setup, achieving a remarkable PUE of 1.17, surpassing the 1.28 acceptance standard. Despite the hurdles, the project reached completion within a mere four months.

Why ASUS

  • ASUS has comprehensive technological capabilities from hardware servers to software platforms and shows how it is actively exploring and leveraging AI and computing power.
  • The dedication and hard work of the ASUS team always response in real-time to provide valuable insights and support and ensure the successful realization of Taiwan's most advanced supercomputer center.