IBM has set up another OpenPower design centre in Europe to target big data and HPC

IBM, Nvidia and Mellanox are setting up another OpenPower design centre in Europe to target development of high performance computing (HPC) apps based on the open source Power architecture.

The move will see technical experts from IBM, Nvidia and Mellanox jointly develop applications on OpenPower architecture which take advantage of the companies’ respective technologies – specifically IBM Power CPUs, Nvidia’s Tesla Accelerated Computing Platform and Mellanox InfiniBand networking solution.

The companies said the move will both advance development of HPC software and create new opportunities for software developers to acquire HPC-related skills and experience.

“Our launch of this new centre reinforces IBM’s commitment to open-source collaboration and is a next step in expanding the software and solution ecosystem around OpenPower,” said Dave Turek, IBM’s vice president of HPC Market Engagement.

“Teaming with Nvidia and Mellanox, the centre will allow us to leverage the strengths of each of our companies to extend innovation and bring higher value to our customers around the world,” Turek said.

The centre will be located in IBM’s client centre in Montpellier, France and complement the Jülich Supercomputing Center launched in November last year.

IBM has been working with a broad range of stakeholders spanning the technology, research and government sectors on Power-based supercomputers in order to satisfy its big Power architecture ambitions. The company hopes Power will command roughly a third of the scale-out market over the next few years.