Texas Advanced Computing Center Plans Stampede 2 Supercomputer

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin will deploy a new supercomputer, called Stampede 2, to provide researchers across the United States with access to high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $30 million grant to TACC to build the new supercomputer, which "builds on technology and expertise from the Stampede system first funded by the NSF in 2011," according to information from The University of Texas at Austin.

With a peak performance of up to 18 petaflops, Stampede 2 will double the peak performance, memory, storage capacity and bandwidth of TACC's original Stampede system. Stampede 2 includes "a mix of upcoming Intel Xeon Phi processors, codenamed 'Knights Landing,' and future-generation Intel Xeon processors, connected by Intel Omni-Path architecture," according to a news release. Upcoming 3D XPoint nonvolatile memory technology will be integrated in the final phase of deployment.

"The kind of large-scale computing and data capabilities systems like Stampede and Stampede 2 provide are crucial for innovation in almost every area of research and development, from providing insights to fundamental theory to applied work that has real near-term impacts on society," said Dan Stanzione, executive director of TACC and principal investigator of the Stampede and Stampede 2 projects, in a prepared statement. "Stampede has been used for everything from determining earthquake risks to help set building codes for homes and commercial buildings, to computing the largest mathematical proof ever constructed."

Stampede 2 vendor partners include Dell, Intel and Seagate Technology. The supercomputer will be operated by a team of cyberinfrastructure experts at TACC, UT Austin, Clemson University, Cornell UniversityUniversity of Colorado Boulder, Indiana University and Ohio State University.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • SXSW EDU

    Explore the Future of AI in Higher Ed at SXSW EDU 2025

    This March 3-6 in Austin, TX, the SXSW EDU Conference & Festival celebrates its 15th year of exploring education's most critical issues and providing a forum for creativity, innovation, and expression.

  • man working on laptop outdoors

    Digital Leadership Must-Haves for 2025: A CDO's Picks

    Now that he's more than a year and a half into his chief digital officer role at NJIT, we've asked Ed Wozencroft to reflect on his areas of concentration: What work must digital leaders "own" in 2025?

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • digital artwork of glowing, interconnected neural-like shapes on a gradient background of deep blue and vibrant purple

    Google Announces Upgrade to Flagship Gemini AI Platform, Enhancing Multimodal Capabilities

    Google has launched Gemini 2.0, designed to empower enterprise users and developers with advanced multimodal capabilities and enhanced performance.