Introduction to High Performance Computing at KFUPM

1. Information Technology Center Introduction toHigh Performance Computing at KFUPM

2. Agenda 1 3 2 Access to HPC What is HPC? HPC at KFUPM

3. What isHPC? • HPC, is the application of “supercomputers”, “Clusters” to computational problems that are either too large for standard computers or would take too long. • HPCcan perform calculations many times faster than a conventional processor.  • A desktop computer generally has a single processing chip, commonly called a CPU. • HPC system, on the other hand, is essentially a network of nodes, each of which contains one or more processing chips, as well as its own memory. • The most common users of HPC systems are scientific researchers, engineers and academic institutions.

4. What does HPC Cluster mean ? • Cluster computing is the technique of linking multiple computer nodes into a single network to take advantage of the parallel processing. • Clusters are usually deployed to improve performance and availability over that of a single computer, while typically being much more cost-effective than single computer of comparable speed or availability. • Computer Clusters have a wide range of applicability and deployment, ranging from small business clusters with a handful of nodes to worlds fastestsupercomputers, likeK-computer. HPC Cluster ?

5. 2 HPC at KFUPM’s Information Technology Center. High Performance Computing Center

6. HPCat KFUPM • Planning & Survey started in early 2008. • Procured in October 2008. • Cluster Installation and Testing during Nov’08-Jan’09. • Applications like Gaussian with Linda, DL-POLY, ANSYS, MATLAB etc. were tested on the HPC cluster. • Test problems were provided by Professors of Chemistry, Physics, Mechanical Engg. And other collaborating departments. • PBS Job Scheduler (Torque) and Cluster monitoring tool “Ganglia” was installed in May 2011 on Linux Cluster.

7. HPC at KFUPM 128 compute-node e1350 IBM e-Server HPC cluster. Master Nodes • 3x Xeon E5405 Quad-Core, 45 GB RAM, 1 TB HD space. Compute Nodes • 128 nodes(IBM 3550 rack mounted),1024 Cores. • Each compute node of the cluster is a dual-processor having two 2.0 GHz x3550 Xeon Quad-core E5405 processors,4 GB RAM, 500 GB of hard disk space. • Interconnect 10GB Ethernet. Uplink 1000-Base-T Gigabit. Operating Systems for Compute nodes (Dual Boot) • Windows HPC Server 2008 and Red Hat Linux 5.2.

8. Who should be using HPC? • The HPC systems put enormous computational capability in the hands of researchers. • In many disciplines the use of HPC systems is well established and forms an integral part of the research. • HPCsystems at KFUPM intend to provide a substantial boost to research in these areas by providing locally accessible resources. • We encourage researchers who are constrained by their desktop systems to use HPC.

9. Windows - Linux HPCClusters • HPC cluster has three master nodes –one for Windows HPCServer 2008, one for one for Red Hat Linux and one for cluster management. • Windows HPCServer 2008 is designed for high-end applications that require high performance computing clusters.

10. Available Software Packages on HPC Clusters at KFUPM

11. HPCPerformance Trends • The • MATLAB • Matlab is installed on the HPCcluster, but in order benefit from multiple nodes, your code should be parallel - including parallel tool box functions like matlabpool, parfor, spmd, etc. 60 Execution Hours

12. HPCPerformance Trends • Message Passing Interface (MPI) • The MPI routines are accessed in the same way as any other third-party library - by including the appropriate header in C/C++ or using the relevant module in Fortran. 4 times faster

13. 3 How to Access? HPC at KFUPM’s Information Technology Center

14. Access to HPC • To get an account on the HPC cluster, write to hpc@kfupm.edu.sa specifying the following details: NAME: KFUPM ID: DESCIPLINE: INTENDED SOFTWARE: • For any queries please send an email to hpc@kfupm.edu.sa.

15. Thank you High Performance Computing, Information Technology Center, KFUPM, Dhahran-31261, Saudi Arabia.