TU invests in supercomputer infrastructure – wien.ORF.at

In addition to the main site in Vienna, sites will also be built in Linz and Innsbruck. With a computing power of 40 petaflops, double the original plan, the MUSICA supercomputer is expected to be among the top 20 most powerful systems in the world. Put simply, the calculator can calculate 40 quadrillion operations per second.

Vienna as a control center for all systems

Several universities are involved, including the Technical University of Vienna, the University of Linz, and the University of Innsbruck. With a total performance of around five petaflops, previous supercomputers have also been operated jointly by several universities, but centrally from Vienna.

Distributing the computers across multiple locations increases the flexibility or “elasticity” of the system. Vienna will have larger computers, while Innsbruck and Linz will have slightly smaller ones. Despite the distributed locations, MUSICA aims to operate as a single supercomputer system.

In Vienna, infrastructure construction is already well underway. Trial operations are scheduled to begin in late autumn, with regular operations starting in early 2025. Innsbruck and Linz will follow in mid-2025.

Connecting to quantum computing infrastructure

The new supercomputer in Innsbruck will also be connected to the quantum computing infrastructure there. This connection between the world of classical computers and quantum computers, which are based on completely different principles, is one of the reasons why the MUSICA project was initially funded with 20 million euros by the European Union. The Ministry of Education has increased this money to 36 million euros.