WestGrid: Advancing Research Computing in Western Canada

1. Presentation to theCanada Foundation for InnovationAugust 23, 2001 WestGrid Western Canada Research Computing Grid

2. The Vision LEGEND Grid Storage Scientific Visualization Advanced Collaboration Computational Resources

3. Computational Facilities • High Performance Computing • Large shared memory system (SMMP) • Cluster of multi-processors (CluMP) • Commodity Cluster • Distributed storage • Local and centralized • Test storage wide area networks • Collaborative Environments • GridRooms; GridStations • Collaboration and visualization flexible acquisition strategies

4. The challenge • Many Research Teams with Diverse Needs • Computer science, Chemistry, Earth and Ocean science, Engineering, Life sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Visualization & Remote Collaboration • SMMP, CluMP, Cluster (capacity vs capability computing) • Rapidly Changing Environment • Growing & changing demand • Changing HPC Solutions • Increasing need for enhanced collaboration tools • Individual institutions cannot meet these needs

5. Computational Design of Catalysts (Ziegler) • Design of transition metal catalysts that can transform hydrocarbons, olefins, O2 and N2 into valuable chemicals and new materials. • WestGrid facilities will allow a major step forward with the inclusion of all factors into the simulation (solvent, dynamics and steric bulk) • Example: Polymerization of olefin to produce plastics with different structures and properties. Olefin Polymeriztion

6. Subatomic Physics (Vetterli, Rodning, …) • The goal of Subatomic Physics is to identify the building blocks of Matter and to determine their interactions. • Explosion of data from new experiments at TRIUMF & abroad  x10 increase in computing & storage. Example: TWIST • Search for new physics “Beyond the Standard Model” • State-of-the-art measurement of the decay parameters of the muon • 70 Terabytes/year of data; 20 Terabytes/year of simulations 125 cpu’s for analysis & simulation

7. Black Hole Collisions (Choptuik) Research: Accurate simulation of the gravitational wave signals produced by colliding black holes. Such signals are apt to be detected in the near future by gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO. Example: The animation shows the head-on collision of two equal-mass black holes which are formed from the gravitational collapse of blobs of matter early on in the simulation. Realistic case requires an increase in cpu power by orders of magnitude

8. Optimal Multiple Sequence Alignment (Schaeffer) • Research • Analysis of proteins in a cell can identify similarities and differences among species • Heuristic methods approximate a good alignment for multiple DNA sequences, such as 10 sequences with 1000 base pairs which requires 10^30 computations • Biologists are interested in longer sequences • HPC Requirements • The program is memory intensive and most effective on a parallel, shared memory computer Now testing the program for a variety of researchers, including Toronto’s Sick Children’s Hospital

9. Internet Modeling & Design (Unger) • Research • parallel & distributed simulation on SMP, MIMD, … • simulation & emulation of advanced internets • HPC requirements • spectrum of multiprocessor platform architectures • exclusive access to small through very large HPC platforms is required an average of 4 hours per week • Evidence of research significance • Total research funding over the past 5 years: $1.4M with $520,000 in cash from industry • ASTECH Award for "Innovation in Science & Technology” • Spinout company: "Jade Simulations International"

10. Internet Modeling & Design (Unger) • Research • parallel & distributed simulation on shared and distributed memory • simulation & emulation of advanced internets • HPC requirements • spectrum of multiprocessor platform architectures • exclusive access to small through very large HPC platforms is required an average of 4 hours/week

11. UofA Immersive Virtual Meeting (Boulanger) Goal: create a general human-machine interface allowing engineers and scientists to communicate their design and visualize remote data, producing the equivalent of a virtual meeting place. Live Stereo Texture and sound Virtual Actuators Collaborative Object And Data Manipulations and Interactions CAD Model or Scientific Data

12. The WestGrid Solution • Working together: 8 institutions, 2 provinces, 250 faculty researchers • Institutional commitments: cash, infrastructure and support staff • Contributions by industry • Complementary and cost-effective resources • Researchers supported by collaboration, visualization and highly qualified personnel • Build on a strong track record of sharing, resource utilization and project management

13. Grid Infrastructure • Uniform access to HPC resources • single sign-on, common submission interface • system wide accounting • distributed computing • Uniform access to data • support file-catalogues and GridFTP • Common grid infrastructure • consistent environment supporting grid-applications and application portals • e.g., Abacus, Gaussian, Matlab, Maple, ADF, …

14. Summary • Leadership • Collaboration • Outstanding research and researchers • Attract, retain and train HQP • Unique regional facility with Grid Infrastructure • Cost-effective shared facilities • Comprehensive, diversified, and adaptable

15. The Vision LEGEND Grid Storage Scientific Visualization Advanced Collaboration Computational Resources

16. Management Resource Allocation Governing Council Executive Committee Management Committee Management Committee Management Committee . . .

17. MACI Achievements • Richard Levy (UofC) - Virtual Reconstruction of Historical Monuments: a case study highlighting the potential uses of computer visualization as a tool in heritage resource management. (SiggGraph 2001 Animation Festival) • Robert Rankin (UofA) is a specialist in space physics, and one of the heads of the university’s Space Weather Program. He is the driving force behind magnetic storm research in Canada and works extensively with the Canadian Space Agency. • Keramat Ali (UofL) new approaches in dynamics, classical and quantum, to broaden the efficiency & scope of artificial recurrent neural networks. These networks are unavoidable & necessary in real biological systems. • Robert Hayes (UofA) in collaboration with industry, new design methodologies for automotive catalytic converters.  Spearheading what has become the most advanced research group in the world in this area. • Arturo Sanchez (UofA) tropical dry forest management and environmental preservation in response to the impacts of free trade and globalization in Latin America. MACI computers provide the capacity needed to host this biodiversity database and myriad of GIS mapping images

18. Virtual Reconstruction of Historical Monuments (Levy) Dr Richard Levy is leading the development of 3D computer visualizations in urban planning.  Simulating the reconstruction of urban sites through high performance computer visualizations, Dr Levy has been able to successfully reconstruct the twelfth century temple site of Phimai, Thailand. A case study highlighting the potential uses of computer visualization as a tool in heritage resource management.

19. Leadership in HQP • Attracting and retaining high-quality faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and support staff • Training HQP for the knowledge-based economy • Supplying HQP to Canadian industry