The Japanese supercomputer Fugaku arrives on AWS and it's a revolution for Cloud Computing!
The once-world's fastest computing power behemoth is now taking up residence in the cloud, promising to revolutionize research and development on a global scale.
Also read:
A legacy of power transformed into accessibility
The Fugaku supercomputer, once hailed as the world’s fastest, is entering a new era. Originally installed at the Riken Center for Computational Science (R-CCS) in Japan, Fugaku is no longer just a marvel of physical engineering, but also a revolutionary software solution called “Virtual Fugaku.” This ambitious project aims to democratize access to supercomputing applications, transforming Fugaku into a social infrastructure with global potential.
From materiality to virtuality
In 2020, Fugaku dominated the supercomputing world. With its advanced architecture and unmatched performance, it helped researchers tackle major challenges ranging from infectious disease control to drug discovery. Today, its technology is morphing into a software stack that can run on modern cloud infrastructures, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) using Arm-based Graviton processors, as well as Fugaku’s A64FX accelerators.
Virtual Fugaku: A step towards democratization
The Virtual Fugaku project, available as a 6GB Singularity container, is available for download. This first step towards full democratization allows AWS users to create their own private instances of Fugaku, harnessing its power for diverse research and development applications, without requiring physical access to the supercomputer itself.
Extended applications in the cloud
Fugaku’s integration into the cloud opens up unprecedented opportunities for the research sector. Applications that previously required direct access to Fugaku’s hardware can now run efficiently in the cloud environment, promising a significant expansion of their capabilities and reach.
An industrial standard in the making
Riken researchers aren’t stopping there. They aim to make Virtual Fugaku an industry standard for cloud-based high-performance computing (HPC) applications. By working to make the software stack compatible with other hardware platforms, they hope to further expand Fugaku’s accessibility and usefulness.
Potential and future impact of Virtual Fugaku
According to Riken director Satoshi Matsuoka, Virtual Fugaku could even surpass the achievements of its hardware predecessor. The implications for fields such as weather forecasting, disease modeling, and the creation of new materials are monumental. Virtual Fugaku could revolutionize these fields by making the power of supercomputing more accessible than ever before.
Implications for the future of cloud computing
Amazon's Virtual Fugaku initiative highlights the growing importance of supercomputers in cloud computing infrastructures. With machines like Fugaku taking their place in the cloud, the possibilities for future research and innovation seem limitless.
This quantum computer crushes Google's supercomputers using 30,000 times less energy!
This article explores how the Fugaku supercomputer is being transformed into a software solution available on AWS, providing extensive possibilities for research and development while promising to revolutionize access to supercomputing around the world.
Source: Theregister