The Hefei Advanced Computing Center in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone, Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province. [Photo/WeChat account: hefeigaoxinfabu]

The Hefei Advanced Computing Center, dubbed the "mega brain" of Hefei in Anhui province, was officially put into operation on June 20.

According to local media, the center has a maximum computing capacity of 12 PFlops, equivalent to 31,250 PCs equipped with i7-9700 processors. Its total data storage capacity is 15 PB, equivalent to 117,187 mobile phones with a storage of 128 GB.

The center will be used to perform research and development in fields such as weather forecasting, universe evolution simulation and earthquake resistance analysis, as well as provide computing support for scientific innovation in areas like quantum communications, robotics and new energy vehicles.

Advanced computing consists of computing, storage, network, and control technologies, and has been integrated with technologies like big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence in recent years. Advanced computing is regarded as a new driving force in scientific progress as well as economic and social development.

The Hefei Advanced Computing Center is a major new part of Anhui's information infrastructure and public service platform. The center has signed cooperation agreements with the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and the Hefei Institute of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to provide them with high-quality technical support.

The center is also a member of the YRD Advanced Computing Alliance. The alliance was set up to improve comprehensive and advanced computing services, as well as encourage the sharing of advanced computing resources throughout the Yangtze River Delta region.