World's First Arm-based Supercomputer Isambard 2 Winds Down After Six Years; Successor, Isambard 3, Leverages Nvidia's Grace CPU Superchips for Operations
In a significant leap forward for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) research in the UK, the Isambard 3 supercomputer, also known as Isambard AI, has officially gone online as of spring 2025. This state-of-the-art machine marks a generational leap over its predecessor, Isambard 2, which was decommissioned recently.
Isambard 2, a 10,000-core machine powered by Cavium-developed and TSMC-manufactured ThunderX2 processors, served as a traditional HPC system using Arm-based technology. It was instrumental in the UK’s supercomputing efforts but did not primarily focus on large-scale AI workloads. On the other hand, Isambard 3 is designed with AI capabilities in mind, using Nvidia’s GH200 Superchips (Hopper GPU accelerators). This shift towards GPU acceleration represents a step beyond purely CPU-based designs.
Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, Head of the Microelectronics Group at the University of Bristol, announced the retirement of Isambard 2 and the arrival of Isambard 3. The Isambard 2 supercomputer, first deployed in May 2018, will go offline at 9 am on Monday, September 30, requiring users to move all data off it by then.
While Isambard 2 was mainly an HPC system, Isambard 3 is part of the UK’s AI Research Resource (AIRR) along with the Dawn supercomputer, aimed at massively boosting AI compute capacity for both academic and industrial research. The supercomputer boasts 34,272 cores and is expected to expand its processor count by an additional 5,280, potentially landing it in the top 10 of the Top500 list in its next run.
Isambard 3 incorporates advanced Nvidia GH200 Superchips with H100 GPU accelerators and likely uses a sophisticated interconnect (similar to the Slingshot-11 used in other top European HPC systems), improving communication speed and bandwidth critical for efficient AI model training.
The retirement of older models like Isambard 2 allows researchers to achieve breakthroughs faster with newer supercomputers. Institutions retire older supercomputers, even if they still operate well, to keep up with technological advancements. For instance, the Summit supercomputer, built in 2018, the same year as Isambard 2, has been replaced by the Frontier supercomputer.
The decommissioning of the Summit supercomputer, which is set to occur in November 2024, is a common practice in the field of supercomputing due to technological advancements. The investment in massive computer advancements in science and technology is worth it due to the benefits they offer, such as faster research, improved efficiency, and groundbreaking discoveries.
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Data-and-cloud-computing technology plays a significant role in the decommissioning of Isambard 2 and the arrival of Isambard 3, as researchers need to move all data off the retiring supercomputer before it goes offline. The new supercomputer, Isambard 3, is part of the UK's AI Research Resource (AIRR) and is designed with advanced Nvidia technology for large-scale AI workloads.
