Title: Construction of National Supercomputing Internet Core Nodes Begins, Promising to Address Computing Power Shortage
Date: October 29, 2023
In a bid to tackle the ongoing computing power shortage, the construction of national supercomputing Internet core nodes has commenced. Three major standards are concurrently being developed to ensure the success of this ambitious project.
The official launch of the construction of the national supercomputing Internet core node took place in Zhengzhou, Henan on October 28. Once completed, this core node will not only serve as a central hub for national supercomputing Internet operations, services, and resource scheduling, but will also function as a comprehensive service entity facilitating supply and demand connection, resource integration, ecological innovation, industry incubation, and more.
The supercomputing Internet is an all-encompassing computing service platform that was initiated under state guidance to facilitate the coordination and management of national computing resources. At the National Supercomputing Internet Work Launch Meeting held in April of this year, the establishment of a National Supercomputing Internet Consortium was announced. The Ministry of Science and Technology aims to build a national computing power base and promote the integrated functioning of supercomputing power. It is projected that by 2025, the national supercomputing Internet will shape an overall layout and become the foundation for constructing Digital China.
With the increasing demand for computing power driven by new generation information technologies like big data and artificial intelligence, it has become imperative to overcome the limitations of the existing single supercomputing center operation model and enhance national supercomputing resource coordination. Issues such as disparate interfaces and insufficient independent research and development of application software have prompted the creation of the supercomputing Internet.
Qian De, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and leader of the expert group on the supercomputing Internet, elucidated on its significance. He explained that the supercomputing Internet not only connects supercomputing centers through high-speed networks to form a unified resource platform but also employs concepts and ideas from the Internet to establish and manage the country’s supercomputing infrastructure.
Essentially, the supercomputing Internet aims to connect numerous supercomputing centers across the country through a computing power network and establish an integrated computing power service platform. Cao Zhennan, Deputy Director of the National High-Performance Computer Engineering Technology Research Center, outlined that the supercomputing Internet enables the linking of remote and heterogeneous computing power centers. This integration facilitates the coordinated allocation and utilization of national computing resources, including AI computing power. Enterprises developing AI applications will no longer need to invest in massive hardware, instead relying on the supercomputing Internet platform to accomplish complex computing tasks such as AI model training.
More than ten national supercomputing centers, alongside several university supercomputers, have already been incorporated into the supercomputing Internet platform, with over 35 units having joined and nearly a hundred others submitting applications for participation. As the platform enters the research and development phase, standards for access to supercomputing centers, computing power output interfaces, and supercomputing application services’ release and evaluation are being established.
Currently, there are 11 approved national supercomputing centers in China, boasting individual computing powers ranging from hundreds of PFLOPS to EFLOPS.
The construction of the national supercomputing Internet will revolutionize the accessibility of computing power, making it as convenient to acquire as water and electricity, according to Orient Securities. Recently, six ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, jointly issued an “Action Plan for the High-Quality Development of Computing Infrastructure,” emphasizing the need to enhance the comprehensive supply capacity of computing power in line with economic and social development and major national strategic requirements. This plan aims to inject new momentum into the high-quality development of the digital economy.
Minsheng Securities underscored the importance of computing power as the fundamental support base for AI development, identifying AI servers, AI chips, and supercomputing as promising fields. They recommended focusing on domestic supercomputing leaders Zhongke Sugon and Haiguang Information, as well as AI chip leaders Cambrian and Jingjiawei, and AI server leaders Inspur Information, China Great Wall, Tuowei Information, and Digital China.
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Source: Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily