# Coffee Lecture - Introduction to high-performance computing (HPC) and overview of bwHPC
This Coffee Lecture provides an introduction to high-performance computing in general and gives an overview of bwHPC.
High-performance computing typically refers to working on a compute cluster and differs from conventional computing in the sense that compute resources need to be explicitly requested and allocated.
In Baden-Württemberg, five compute clusters are maintained under its bwHPC initiative and provided to students and scientists at its nine state universities.
Specifically, we discuss:
- The architecture of a compute cluster
- Use cases
- Modes of working on a cluster computer
- Overview of the five bwHPC compute clusters
- How to register for bwHPC
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## Further information and support
-**Detailed documentation** is provided in the [bwHPC Wiki](https://wiki.bwhpc.de/e/Main_Page).
- Do not hesitate to contact the bwHPC at the Office for Research Services (Stabsstelle Forschungsnahe Dienste) for questions or assistance: [kim-bw-projekt@uni-hohenheim.de](mailto:kim-bw-projekt@uni-hohenheim.de)
- Alternatively, submit a ticket to the **bwSupport**: [https://bw-support.scc.kit.edu/](https://bw-support.scc.kit.edu/).
