January 25, 2012
Who said grid computing and big iron supercomputers don't mix? On Monday it was announced that the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) has selected Globus Online as its file transfer solution for the center's upcoming Blue Waters supercomputer.
Globus used GridFTP, a de facto standard for high-performance data movement across large-scale distributed systems. Globus has wrapped a cloud-based interface around it so that users can easily manage file transfers to and fro without having to become experts at Linux and file management commands.
NSCA is not alone in signing up Globus for it supercomputing needs. Other HPC centers including NERSC, Brookhaven National Lab, and facilities at the University of Colorado and University of Chicago have also adopted the grid-based file transfer service.
An article this week in HPC in the Cloud, digs deeper into the whys and wherefores of the selection of Globus for Blue Waters. In the report, Michelle Butler, NCSA's technical program manager, outlines the responsibilities that the center has handed over to Globus:
Butler explains that Globus Online will be used for transferring data into and out of the Blue Waters machine. The SaaS-based tool will also be tasked with moving data within NCSA, and into both the Blue Waters and NCSA archives. "Anywhere data needs to be transferred within NCSA or Blue Waters, it will be transferred across the Globus Online mechanism," says Butler.
She goes on to praise the selection of Globus, saying that while there are solutions available that can transfer and manage data, they don't possess the ease of use, reliability and security of Globus.
Needless to say, the team at Globus is excited to have its solution deployed on what will soon be one of the most high-profile supercomputers in the world. Ian Foster, Globus Online co-founder and Director of the Computation Institute at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, noted that the new system will be running some of the most important science codes in existence, adding "We are thrilled to be a foundational service for such an important project."
In a recent solicitation, the NSF laid out needs for furthering its scientific and engineering infrastructure with new tools to go beyond top performance, Having already delivered systems like Stampede and Blue Waters, they're turning an eye to solving data-intensive challenges. We spoke with the agency's Irene Qualters and Barry Schneider about..
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Large-scale, worldwide scientific initiatives rely on some cloud-based system to both coordinate efforts and manage computational efforts at peak times that cannot be contained within the combined in-house HPC resources. Last week at Google I/O, Brookhaven National Lab’s Sergey Panitkin discussed the role of the Google Compute Engine in providing computational support to ATLAS, a detector of high-energy particles at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
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The Xeon Phi coprocessor might be the new kid on the high performance block, but out of all first-rate kickers of the Intel tires, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) got the first real jab with its new top ten Stampede system.We talk with the center's Karl Schultz about the challenges of programming for Phi--but more specifically, the optimization...
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The Cray CS300-AC cluster supercomputer offers energy efficient, air-cooled design based on modular, industry-standard platforms featuring the latest processor and network technologies and a wide range of datacenter cooling requirements.