# Venado

> supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory

**Wikidata**: [Q125501901](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125501901)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/venado

## Summary  
Venado is a 2024‑commissioned supercomputer installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (TA‑3, Los Alamos County, New Mexico, USA).  Built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise in partnership with Nvidia, it runs Linux, uses Nvidia’s Grace Hopper GH200 super‑chip CPUs and a Slingshot‑11 interconnect, and delivers up to 130 petaflops of peak performance.

## Key Facts  
- **Inception:** 2024, commissioned by the United States Federal Government.  
- **Location & Operator:** Housed in TA‑3 at Los Alamos National Laboratory; operated by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and LANL.  
- **Manufacturer:** Hewlett Packard Enterprise (hardware) and Nvidia (GPU/CPU technology).  
- **Processor:** Nvidia Grace Hopper GH200 super‑chip, configured with 2 560 units.  
- **Interconnect:** Slingshot‑11 high‑speed network bus.  
- **Operating System:** Linux (Unix‑like OS).  
- **Performance:** 98.51 PFLOPS (Rmax) and 130.44 PFLOPS (Rpeak); 4 81 440 processor cores; 6 758 400 “Nmax” (node‑equivalent) count.  
- **TOP500 Ranking:** #13 (Nov 2024), #11 (Jun 2024), #19 (Jun 2025).  
- **System ID:** TOP500 identifier 180246 (listed as “Venado – HPE Cray EX254n, NVIDIA Grace 72C 3.1 GHz, NVIDIA GH200 Superchip, Slingshot‑11”).  
- **Naming:** Named after Venado Peak, a nearby mountain.  

## FAQs  
### Q: What is Venado?  
**A:** Venado is a high‑performance supercomputer deployed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2024, built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Nvidia to support scientific and national‑security workloads.  

### Q: Where is Venado located and who runs it?  
**A:** It resides in the TA‑3 facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos County, New Mexico, and is operated jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and LANL.  

### Q: What are Venado’s main technical specifications?  
**A:** Venado uses Nvidia Grace Hopper GH200 CPUs (2 560 units), a Slingshot‑11 interconnect, runs Linux, and delivers up to 130 petaflops peak performance with 481 440 processor cores.  

### Q: How does Venado rank among world supercomputers?  
**A:** In the TOP500 list, Venado was ranked #13 in November 2024, #11 in June 2024, and #19 in June 2025, reflecting its status as one of the most powerful systems globally.  

### Q: Who manufactured Venado?  
**A:** The system was assembled by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with critical GPU/CPU technology supplied by Nvidia.  

## Why It Matters  
Venado represents a major upgrade to the United States’ high‑performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, directly supporting the computational needs of the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration. By leveraging Nvidia’s Grace Hopper GH200 super‑chip and the high‑bandwidth Slingshot‑11 interconnect, Venado delivers unprecedented speed and efficiency for simulations ranging from nuclear weapons stewardship to advanced materials science and climate modeling. Its placement at Los Alamos—a historic hub for scientific research—ensures that cutting‑edge computational power is available to national‑security projects and fundamental scientific inquiry alike. The system’s high TOP500 rankings underscore its role in maintaining U.S. leadership in supercomputing, fostering innovation, and enabling breakthroughs that require petascale processing capabilities.  

## Notable For  
- **TOP500 prominence:** Consistently placed within the top 20 supercomputers worldwide (rank #11–#19, 2024‑2025).  
- **Grace Hopper GH200 integration:** One of the first large‑scale deployments of Nvidia’s GH200 super‑chip, combining CPU and GPU on a single package.  
- **Slingshot‑11 interconnect:** Utilizes Nvidia’s latest high‑speed network, delivering low‑latency communication across the system.  
- **Massive core count:** 481 440 processor cores and over 6 7 million “Nmax” units, enabling massive parallelism.  
- **Strategic location:** Situated at LANL, directly supporting U.S. nuclear security and scientific research missions.  

## Body  

### Overview  
Venado is a supercomputer (instance of *supercomputer*) commissioned in 2024 and operated by the United States Federal Government through the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.  It is named after the nearby Venado Peak and carries the TOP500 system identifier **180246**.  

### Architecture  

- **Hardware platform:** HPE Cray EX254n chassis.  
- **CPU/GPU:** Nvidia Grace Hopper GH200 super‑chip, configured with **2 560** units (qualifier P1114).  
- **Interconnect:** Slingshot‑11 high‑performance network bus.  
- **Operating system:** Linux (Unix‑like).  
- **Manufacturers:** Hewlett Packard Enterprise (system integration) and Nvidia (processor technology).  

### Performance  

| Metric | Value | Unit | Note |
|--------|-------|------|------|
| Rmax (measured) | 98.51 | PFLOPS | TOP500 benchmark |
| Rpeak (theoretical) | 130.44 | PFLOPS | Maximum achievable |
| Nmax (node‑equivalent) | 6 758 400 | – | System‑wide count |
| Processor cores | 481 440 | – | Total core count |

These figures place Venado among the world’s most powerful HPC installations, reflected in its TOP500 rankings (#13 Nov 2024, #11 Jun 2024, #19 Jun 2025).  

### Operations  

- **Location:** TA‑3 facility, Los Alamos County, New Mexico, USA.  
- **Sponsor:** Federal Government of the United States.  
- **Primary users:** Researchers at LANL, DOE programs, and NNSA projects requiring large‑scale simulation and data analysis.  

### History & Naming  

- **Inception year:** 2024.  
- **Naming rationale:** Honours Venado Peak, a prominent mountain in the region, continuing LANL’s tradition of naming systems after local geographic features.  

### Related Entities  

- **Nvidia:** Provides the Grace Hopper GH200 chips and Slingshot‑11 interconnect technology.  
- **Hewlett Packard Enterprise:** System integrator and hardware manufacturer.  
- **Los Alamos National Laboratory:** Host institution and primary operator.  

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*All information is drawn from publicly available TOP500 listings, LANL releases, and reputable sources cited in the source material.*

## References

1. [Source](https://www.top500.org/site/50157/)
2. [TOP500](https://www.top500.org/system/180246/)
3. [Source](https://santafenewmexican.com/article_7fbeb12e-fb5a-11ee-be76-dfc0342a8c6e.html)