PRACE analysed key scientific applications and mapped them to suitable architectures. As a result six prototypes were selected including more advanced hybrid systems.

"Our objective is to build the best set of prototypes for preparing a timely and seamless deployment of production systems in 2009/2010 - not to attempt to select the best individual prototypes", stated François Robin, from CEA/GENCI.

The prototypes will be installed at the following PRACE partner sites:

• Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain installs a hybrid prototype combining IBM Cell and Power6 processors. The Cell processors are used for computation and the Power6 processors for service.
• the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France and Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), Germany jointly use Intel Nehalem/Xeon processors in their systems. Two shared-memory multiprocessors (thin node clusters) will be distributed over the two sites; a prototype produced by BULL at CEA and a larger system of the same architecture at FZJ.
• The Finnish IT Center for Science (CSC), Finland and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), Switzerland jointly evaluate the Cray XT5 architecture. This Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) prototype will be installed at CSC's facilities.
• FZJ provides its already installed IBM BlueGene/P system, as a Massively Parallel Processing prototype.
• the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), Germany offers a NEC SX-9 and an x86 based cluster as a hybrid prototype.
• the Netherlands Computing Facilities Foundation (NCF), The Netherlands evaluates the IBM Power6 architecture, a shared-memory multiprocessor (fat node cluster). This prototype will be installed in SARA Computing and Networking Services facilities in Amsterdam.