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HPC & AI Wall StreetTo state that there a wide range of opinions about cloud computing–from dire predictions about security meltdowns to elated manifestos about tremendous cost savings—would be the understatement of the year. The reason for this array of views on the present and future of cloud computing, particularly in the sphere of HPC, is simple—time, experience, and communication have yet to reveal the true nature of these technologies. We have yet to fully realize not only the true capacity of the cloud, but also the full hosts of risks. After all, to ignore the potential security, privacy, recovery, and other legitimate concerns would be to overlook one of the most prevalent and all-consuming problems with the cloud concept.
Cloud computing as a general subject is already a contentious topic, but when you move those conversations into the realm of big iron and the discussion turns to supercomputing in the scientific and enterprise realm, a whole new mess of issues are presented. Yes, these are often the same topics that arise in conversations about general clouds, but when we amp up the scale and start talking large scale computing, these issues are magnified.
So where do we go from here? How can the HPC community come together to better understand the value, risks, benefits, functionality, and overall concept of the cloud in high-performance scientific and enterprise computing environments?
Well, I have an idea…
Let’s come together from near and far; let’s blend the viewpoints of those in all sectors who have experience with HPC and cloud technologies. Let’s take these ideas, shake them up in the mixed bag they arrived in, and begin to synthesize and reorder. Let’s do this together until we come up with a comprehensive definition of HPC in the Cloud—not only as a publication, of course, but as an overarching term that can be used to further narrow the thousands of definitions of the cloud that are float and collide across the web already.
There is already some current HPC cloud activity on the horizon; it is gaining momentum across the spectrum. Make no mistake about–now is the moment of accelerated acceptance.
HPC in the Cloud will roll with the tide of innovation. And in that greater sea of conflicting information, opinion, and collective technologies you can make this online source a raft—one that you can float on, slowly at first, but away from the barge of information that carries ideas from HPC exclusively or only the cloud.
From this point, we will be able to look out the sea of information survey the deep waters that extend in all directions–as far as the horizon and beyond. I ask you now, where would you like to jump off?
This is big innovation for big iron.
This is HPC. This is The Cloud. And this is all points in between.
Welcome.
