{
 "id": "frontier",
 "url": "/supercomputers/frontier",
 "name": "Frontier",
 "site": "Oak Ridge National Laboratory",
 "country": "US",
 "compute_atlas_url": "https://computeatlas.net/supercomputers/systems/frontier",
 "sourcing": "ORNL/OLCF documentation (docs.olcf.ornl.gov, ornl.gov news), an HPE architecture briefing hosted by OLCF, AMD's MI250X pages, ORNL's CUG 2023 Orion paper, an ORNL-authored Scientific Data paper on Frontier's cooling, and the TOP500 entry (June 2026 list), researched 2026-10-02",
 "reading_note": "Unmarked companies come from the operator's own pages (ornl.gov, olcf.ornl.gov, docs.olcf.ornl.gov), ORNL-authored papers or the vendor's own materials (hpe.com-hosted briefings, amd.com); reported companies come from named trade press whose article body was read in full, not just the headline.",
 "specs": {
  "accelerator": "AMD Instinct MI250X, 4 per node (2 GCDs per module, 8 GCDs per node), 128 GB HBM2E per module; TSMC 6nm",
  "host_cpu": "1x 64-core AMD Optimized 3rd Gen EPYC per node, 2.0 GHz base, 3.7 GHz boost",
  "integrator": "HPE (HPE Cray EX supercomputer; TOP500 lists the system as HPE Cray EX235a)",
  "nodes": "9,856 compute nodes in 77 cabinets of 128 nodes each (OLCF user guide)",
  "memory": "Per node: 512 GB DDR4 plus 4 x 128 GB HBM2E (8 GCDs x 64 GB)",
  "interconnect": "HPE Slingshot-11, 4 x 200 Gb/s NICs per node (100 GB/s injection), 64-port switches, dragonfly topology",
  "storage": "Orion: 679 PB usable Lustre namespace on HPE Cray ClusterStor E1000 (three tiers: 11.5 PB NVMe performance, 679 PB HDD capacity, 10 PB NVMe metadata); 2 x 1.92 TB NVMe per compute node",
  "cooling": "Direct liquid cooling in the cabinets via coolant distribution units; facility warm-water plant with four evaporative cooling towers, 90°F design supply water, sized for 40 MW",
  "power_mw": "24.6 MW (24,607 kW, power measurement level 2, TOP500 June 2026 list)",
  "rmax_pflops": "1,353.00 PFlop/s (TOP500 June 2026 list)",
  "rpeak_pflops": "2,055.72 PFlop/s (TOP500 June 2026 list)",
  "status_note": "First listed on the June 2022 TOP500 list (ORNL announcement, 2022-05-30); TOP500 gives the installation year as 2021; operated by the OLCF for DOE's Office of Science"
 },
 "not_confirmed": "HPE and ORNL do not itemise the compute side's own components — no source read names the maker of the HBM2E stacks, the DDR4 DIMMs, the node-local NVMe drives, the cabinet cold plates, the rectifiers or the Slingshot cables and optics. The facility's 40 MW electrical feed, nine 4 MW transformers, four cooling towers and 350-horsepower pumps are described by ORNL without naming their manufacturers, so Layers 6 and 7 are only partly mapped here (the one named facility vendor is the building automation system). The cabinet and node counts also differ between ORNL documents, as noted in the specs.",
 "lines": [
  {
   "n": 1,
   "line": "System design and cabinets (HPE Cray EX, liquid-cooled, up to 64 compute blades in 8 chassis per cabinet)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "4.01",
     "name": "Rack-scale systems",
     "url": "/parts/servers-racks-and-integration/rack-scale-systems-nvl72-class-mi400-helios-class"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "system integrator and cabinet designer (HPE Cray EX)"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [],
   "sources": [
    "https://docs.olcf.ornl.gov/systems/frontier_user_guide.html",
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2-15-23-Frontier-System-Architecture-public-v7.pdf"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 2,
   "line": "Compute blade (HPE Cray EX235A: two nodes per blade, each with 1 CPU and 4 MI250X, all components liquid-cooled)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "4.03",
     "name": "GPU baseboards & compute trays",
     "url": "/parts/servers-racks-and-integration/gpu-baseboards-and-compute-trays-hgx-bianca"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": null
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "maker of the node's DDR4 DIMMs (512 GB per node) — not named in any source read",
    "maker of the two node-local NVMe drives (1.92 TB each) — not named in any source read"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2-15-23-Frontier-System-Architecture-public-v7.pdf"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 3,
   "line": "MI250X accelerator (two GCDs per module, fabricated on TSMC 6nm; 4 modules per node)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "1.01",
     "name": "Merchant GPUs / accelerators",
     "url": "/parts/compute-silicon-and-packaging/merchant-gpus-accelerators"
    },
    {
     "id": "1.09",
     "name": "Leading-edge foundry",
     "url": "/parts/compute-silicon-and-packaging/leading-edge-foundry"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "amd",
     "name": "AMD",
     "url": "/companies/amd",
     "reported": false,
     "note": null
    },
    {
     "id": "tsmc",
     "name": "TSMC",
     "url": "/companies/tsmc",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "6nm FinFET process, per AMD's MI250X specification page"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "maker of the eight HBM2E stacks per module (128 GB) — AMD and ORNL give capacity and bandwidth but no memory supplier"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.amd.com/en/products/accelerators/instinct/mi200/mi250x.html",
    "https://www.amd.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-11-8-new-amd-instinct-mi200-series-accelerators-bring-.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 4,
   "line": "Two-die package with 2.5D Elevated Fanout Bridge (EFB) interconnect and eight HBM2E stacks",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "1.11",
     "name": "2.5D/3D advanced packaging",
     "url": "/parts/compute-silicon-and-packaging/2-5d-3d-advanced-packaging-cowos-s-l-r-soic"
    },
    {
     "id": "2.01",
     "name": "HBM",
     "url": "/parts/memory-and-storage/hbm-hbm3e-hbm4"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "amd",
     "name": "AMD",
     "url": "/companies/amd",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "announced the EFB packaging technology with the MI200 series"
    },
    {
     "id": "tsmc",
     "name": "TSMC",
     "url": "/companies/tsmc",
     "reported": true,
     "note": "described as helping AMD develop the elevated fanout bridge"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "which company performs the final package assembly and test",
    "HBM2E supplier (see MI250X line)"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.amd.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-11-8-new-amd-instinct-mi200-series-accelerators-bring-.html",
    "https://www.nextplatform.com/2021/11/09/the-aldebaran-amd-gpu-that-won-exascale/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 5,
   "line": "Host CPU (one 64-core AMD Optimized 3rd Gen EPYC per node, coherent with the GPUs over Infinity Fabric)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "1.05",
     "name": "Server CPUs",
     "url": "/parts/compute-silicon-and-packaging/server-cpus"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "amd",
     "name": "AMD",
     "url": "/companies/amd",
     "reported": false,
     "note": null
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "foundry for the custom EPYC part — no source read names it"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://docs.olcf.ornl.gov/systems/frontier_user_guide.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 6,
   "line": "Network interface (four HPE Slingshot 200 Gb/s NICs per node, 100 GB/s injection bandwidth)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "1.06",
     "name": "NICs / SuperNICs",
     "url": "/parts/compute-silicon-and-packaging/nics-supernics"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "Slingshot NICs"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [],
   "sources": [
    "https://docs.olcf.ornl.gov/systems/frontier_user_guide.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 7,
   "line": "Slingshot switches (64-port Rosetta ASIC on TSMC 16nm; 74 groups of 32 switches in a dragonfly)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "3.02",
     "name": "Scale-out switch ASICs",
     "url": "/parts/networking-and-interconnect/scale-out-switch-asics"
    },
    {
     "id": "3.03",
     "name": "Switch systems & white-box ODMs",
     "url": "/parts/networking-and-interconnect/switch-systems-and-white-box-odms"
    },
    {
     "id": "1.09",
     "name": "Leading-edge foundry",
     "url": "/parts/compute-silicon-and-packaging/leading-edge-foundry"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "designs and supplies the Slingshot switches"
    },
    {
     "id": "tsmc",
     "name": "TSMC",
     "url": "/companies/tsmc",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "Rosetta switch ASIC process, per a paper co-authored by HPE engineers"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "maker of the copper and active optical cables (copper inside groups, optics between groups) — the cable manufacturer is not named in any source read"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2-15-23-Frontier-System-Architecture-public-v7.pdf",
    "https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.08886"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 8,
   "line": "Orion parallel file system (Lustre on HPE Cray ClusterStor E1000; 679 PB usable)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "2.10",
     "name": "AI storage systems",
     "url": "/parts/memory-and-storage/ai-storage-systems-parallel-file-systems-object"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "ClusterStor E1000 hardware and integration of Orion"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.ornl.gov/news/frontier-supercomputer-debuts-worlds-fastest-breaking-exascale-barrier",
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2-15-23-Frontier-System-Architecture-public-v7.pdf"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 9,
   "line": "Orion drives (Seagate Exos X18 18 TB HDDs, Samsung PM1733 NVMe performance tier, KIOXIA 30 TB NVMe metadata tier)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "2.09",
     "name": "HDD",
     "url": "/parts/memory-and-storage/hdd-nearline-object-tiers"
    },
    {
     "id": "2.08a",
     "name": "Drives",
     "url": "/parts/memory-and-storage/enterprise-ssds-and-controllers-drives"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "seagate",
     "name": "Seagate",
     "url": "/companies/seagate",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "18 TB Exos X18 hard drives, 106 per enclosure, two enclosures per scalable storage unit"
    },
    {
     "id": "samsung-electronics",
     "name": "Samsung Electronics",
     "url": "/companies/samsung-electronics",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "3.2 TB PM1733 NVMe SSDs in each storage unit (performance tier)"
    },
    {
     "id": "kioxia",
     "name": "Kioxia",
     "url": "/companies/kioxia",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "30 TB NVMe SSDs in the metadata units"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [],
   "sources": [
    "https://cug.org/proceedings/cug2023_proceedings/includes/files/pap122s2-file1.pdf"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 10,
   "line": "In-cabinet liquid cooling (direct cold plates on all node components, shared coolant distribution units; 25 CDUs, each serving three cabinets)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "5.01",
     "name": "Direct-to-chip cold plates",
     "url": "/parts/liquid-cooling-it-side-chip-to-cdu/direct-to-chip-cold-plates"
    },
    {
     "id": "5.05",
     "name": "Coolant distribution units",
     "url": "/parts/liquid-cooling-it-side-chip-to-cdu/coolant-distribution-units-in-rack-in-row"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "cabinet, blade cold plates and CDUs are part of the HPE Cray EX design"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "makers of the cold plates, quick disconnects and CDU internals — not named in any source read",
    "Orion's rear-door heat exchangers are mentioned in ORNL's CUG 2023 paper but no manufacturer is named"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2-15-23-Frontier-System-Architecture-public-v7.pdf",
    "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-03913-w"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 11,
   "line": "Cabinet power (four power shelves per cabinet, up to eight AC/DC rectifiers each)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "4.12",
     "name": "Power shelves & PSUs",
     "url": "/parts/servers-racks-and-integration/power-shelves-and-psus-33-kw-class-orv3-shelves-rack-level"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "hpe",
     "name": "HPE",
     "url": "/companies/hpe",
     "reported": false,
     "note": null
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "rectifier manufacturer — not named in any source read"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2-15-23-Frontier-System-Architecture-public-v7.pdf"
   ]
  },
  {
   "n": 12,
   "line": "Facility cooling plant and its building automation system (four evaporative cooling towers, four 350 hp pumps, 40 MW design load)",
   "parts": [
    {
     "id": "6.08",
     "name": "Building management, controls, environmental sensors",
     "url": "/parts/facility-cooling-and-hvac/building-management-controls-environmental-sensors"
    }
   ],
   "companies": [
    {
     "id": "johnson-controls",
     "name": "Johnson Controls",
     "url": "/companies/johnson-controls",
     "reported": false,
     "note": "Metasys building automation system that logs Frontier's flow, temperature and power"
    }
   ],
   "unresolved": [
    "manufacturers of the cooling towers, pumps and plate heat exchangers — ORNL describes them without naming vendors",
    "manufacturers of the nine 4 MW transformers and the switchgear in the computer room (Layer 7) — not named"
   ],
   "sources": [
    "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-03913-w",
    "https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/2021/09/29/stunning-specs-whats-inside-the-nations-first-exascale-supercomputer-facility/"
   ]
  }
 ]
}