The Aspirations Of HPE And Dell In The Quantum-Classical HPC Datacenter
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The Aspirations Of HPE And Dell In The Quantum-Classical HPC Datacenter
Jeff Burt
Jeff<br>Burt
Published<br>mon 13 Jul 2026 // 18:44 UTC
There are any number of ways to track the expanding development of quantum computing, from the strides being made in error-corrected qubits – logical qubits – and fault-tolerant systems to the software and algorithms cropping up around them. Another way is look at the work traditional hardware OEMs are putting into collaborating with quantum computing vendors and getting the necessary infrastructure in order for hybrid quantum-classical HPC datacenters.<br>Such hybrid datacenters going to be what will bridge the gap between theoretical vision of quantum computing and the practical use by enterprises.
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As we have previously covered, Cisco Systems is accelerating its work in creating the vendor-neutral networking layer for quantum computing, from developing the architecture to its Universal Quantum Switch prototype, unveiled in April.<br>Nvidia clearly sees a quantum future where QPUs share the stage with GPUs and CPUs, along with the quantum-focused product lineup it’s putting together.<br>“We don’t build quantum computers, and yet we are deeply integrated into the quantum computing industry and we create libraries,” Nvidia co-founder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang said last year. “CUDA-Q is the programming model for hybrid classical accelerated quantum. We have cuQuantum, libraries that help you simulate quantum circuits, and DGX-Quantum, to do error correction in quantum computers. We partner with them, we support them, we help them in any possible way.”<br>More recently, at their respective user conferences, both HPE and Dell gave quantum computing a greater presence than in past events, putting a spotlight on everything from partnerships to architecture for the hybrid datacenters as well as the cloud to expectations of how quantum computing will roll out.
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At its Discover 2026 show last month, HPE announced partnerships with Intel, IQM Quantum Computers, Quantinuum, QuEra, and Rigetti, among others, as the system maker builds out a platform for integrating quantum systems of multiple modalities with its family of Cray supercomputers. A key part is creating testbeds for a range of tasks, from design hybrid algorithms to software interoperability to benchmarking HPC-quantum workflows.<br>For HPE, it’s all about the integration point, according to Trish Damkroger, senior vice president and general manager of HPC and AI infrastructure solutions at HPE.<br>“If you look at rack-scale now, we're not even designing the rack,” Damkroger told The Next Platform at the show, describing the nature of the HPE's role. “We are manufacturing it, but Nvidia is giving us a reference design, and then we add what we can to differentiate around that. We will not make the quantum devices, just like we don't make the silicon. I look at quantum as another accelerator. We will be putting the network to it. You've got to bring that all together. Putting on top that a software stack. It's all about integrating it all, making, hopefully, a single control plane to make it easy to control the different accelerators on the machine, and then about deploying and servicing.”<br>Much of quantum computing now is accessed through the cloud, but there is a push to put them into HPC datacenters, integrated with classical servers, for a variety of reasons that include security, sovereignty, and integration with classical systems in facilities that already support myriad technologies, from CPUs and GPUs to varied storage and networking systems and specialized accelerators.
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Quantum computing is “becoming more mainstream,” Damkroger said. “Right now, if you talk to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, home of the Cray-based Frontier supercomputer, they can order up quantum over the cloud and try things out. But it's getting to the point where they want to have those devices and actually try them. We're not at the Cray-1 level yet, but we're getting there. We're going to start really seeing those Cray-1 quantum machines produced.”<br>Damkroger does not mean literally that there is a quantum machine that is being called a Cray-1, but that the quantum market is at the same place supercomputing was when the Cray-1 was launched in 1975.<br>D-Wave, which for most of its history has offered annealing quantum computing via its Leap cloud service, but the company began selling its Advantage systems directly to organizations last year.<br>Likewise, IQM also sells access to its superconducting quantum systems to academic institutions and enterprises through its Resonance cloud. That said, the Finland-based vendor is focused on on-premises datacenters, as shown by its having sold 23 systems around the world. Recently, it announced the LUMI AI Factory, which is led by CSC – IT...