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Overview of the Texas Advanced Computing Center and International Partnerships. Marcia Inger Assistant Director Development & External Relations April 26, 2006. TACC Mission.
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Overview of theTexas Advanced Computing Centerand International Partnerships Marcia Inger Assistant Director Development & External Relations April 26, 2006
TACC Mission To enhance research, development, and education and to improve society through the application of advanced computing technologies.
TACC Strategic Approach • Resource & Services • Acquire & operate leading-edge advanced computing systems • Support world-class researchers with expert consulting, training, documentation • Research & Development • Conduct R&D to produce new computational technologies • Collaborate with users to apply advanced computing techniques • Education, Outreach, Public Relations • Educate the community to increase participation in advanced computing technology careers • Inform society about value of advanced computing technologies in improving knowledge and quality of life
TACC Resources are Terascale, Comprehensive and Balanced • HPC systems to enable larger simulations analyses and faster turnaround times • Grids of PCs and workstations to maximize throughput of distributed applications (parameter sweeps, etc.) • Scientific visualization resources to enable large data analysis and knowledge discovery • Data & information systems to store large datasets from simulations, analyses, digital collections, instruments, and sensors • Distributed/grid computing servers & software to integrate all systems into computational grids • Network equipment for high-bandwidth data movements and transfers between systems
TACC HPC & Storage Systems LONESTAR CHAMPION WRANGLER UPGRADE in October 2006:at least 2000 dual-core CPUS,3 TB memory, 40 Tflops IBM Power5 System96 Power5 CPUs,192 GB mem, ~1 teraflop Dell Xeon EM64T Linux Cluster 656 CPUs (4.2 Tflops) 1.3 TB memory, ~4 TB disk STAMPEDE ARCHIVE GLOBAL DISK Sun SANs andData Direct Disk > 50TB Mac Xserve G5 Cluster 46 CPUs (368 Gflops) 52GB memory, 3.7TB disk STK PowderHorns (2) 2.8 PB max capacity managed by Cray DMF
ACES VisLab • Front and Rear Projection Systems • 3x1 semi-cylinder immersive environment, 24’ diameter • 5x2 large-screen, 16:9 panel tiled display • Matrix switch between systems, projectors, rooms • Full immersive capabilities with head/motion tracking
TACC Network Connectivity • High-bandwidth networking is crucial for grid computing: • UT Internet2 connection at OC-12 (655 Mbps) • TACC TeraGrid connection at 10 Gbps • Texas building new Lonestar Education And Research Network (LEARN) • Texas Joining National Lambda Rail (10 Gbps)
TACC Services • TACC resources and services include: • Consulting • Training • Technical documentation • Data storage/archival • System selection/configuration consulting • System hosting (especially cluster nodes)
Ongoing Grid Projects in 2006 • TeraGrid: US terascale cyberinfrastructure (Jay’s presentation) • TIGRE: state of Texas Grid (Warren’s presentation) • UT Grid: campus grid (Warren’s presentation) • SURAgrid: regional grid (Warren’s presentation) • GridPort, GridShell, GridChem: software tools to simplify and expand usage of cyberinfrastructure with powerful, easy-to-use interfaces
Other Key Projects in 2006 • Scientific Computing academic classes (classroom, download): • Intro to Scientific/Technical Computing • Parallel Computing for Science & Engineering • Visualization & Data Analysis for Science & Engineering • Grid Computing for Science & Engineering • HPC Libraries: increase efficiency of using HPC systems • GotoBLAS serial linear algebra kernels • New parallel linear algebra libraries soon • Remote/Collaborative Visualization (Greg’s presentation) • Data Collections Hosting & Analysis Services • Science & Technology Affiliates for Research (STAR) Program
International Partnerships • Scientific achievements are made worldwide • Scientific progress comes from building on achievements, knowledge: sharing & collaboration • EGEE and EELA are great examples • Grids promote sharing and collaboration • Obstacles to maximum awareness of achievements: • Geography & time zones • Languages and cultures • Thus, extra effort required to share information, cooperate on international scales
International Partners Program • TACC now positioned to create international partnerships that promote sharing, collaboration • International Partners in Advanced Computing (IPAC) Program for advanced computing centers with: • Comprehensive interests (HPC, Vis, Grid, etc.) • Commitment to sharing information, technologies • Interest in collaboration in R&D, E&O • Other international programs will be forthcoming for research groups, etc.
IPAC Activities • Members will engage in… • Regular communication via email and online collaboration tools (intranet site, Access Grid, Wiki, etc.) • Organization of joint seminars and conferences • Allocation of resources for special intra-facility projects • Pursuit of academic and research opportunities through collaborative proposals • Publication of joint technical papers (in the scientific literature, in the TACC Technical Paper Series, and in similar series at partner institutions) • Production of a quarterly web publication highlighting research and collaboration in grid and distributed computing, scientific visualization, and other topics
IPAC Opportunities • With this foundation: • Improved sharing of technologies • Collaborative R&D on projects • Sharing of educational content • Building of international grids projects • Etc.
Summary • TACC focused on impact through leadership, collaboration • Leadership in software including GridPort, GridShell, remote visualization, linear algebra, etc. • partnership in grids at campus, state, regional, national, and international scales • IPAC program goal is to enhance activities at advanced computing centers worldwide through: • Increased awareness • Information and technology sharing • Collaboration on R&D, E&O, etc. • Sharing of resources, grid projects, etc.
For More Information on TACC & IPAC Marcia Inger, Assistant Director Development & External Relations Texas Advanced Computing Center The University of Texas at Austin Email: minger@tacc.utexas.edu Phone: +1-512-471-4904