QMIO: A tightly integrated hybrid HPCQC system

High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems are the most powerful tools that we currently have to solve complex scientific simulations. Quantum computing (QC) has the potential to enhance HPC systems by accelerating the execution of specific kernels that can be offloaded to a Quantum Processing Unit (QPU), granting them new capabilities, improving the speed of computation, or reducing energy consumption. In this paper, we present QMIO: a state-of-the-art hybrid HPCQC system, which tightly integrates HPC and QC. We describe its hardware and software components, the integration middleware, and the lessons learned during the design, implementation, and operation of the system.