State of Technology 2013 -- HPC Cloud

For my "State of Technology" series, I will review advancement in convergent technologies such as HPC Cloud, Big Data HPC and Big Data Cloud.

I define a true HPC Cloud as a high-performance computing system as a service delivered through private, public or hybrid cloud. To qualify for an HPC system, one needs to have tightly coupled networking and parallel file system connecting scalable computing and storage building blocks. The following are some of the latest advancement in HPC Cloud:

1. User Interface
A self-serving interface is the most prominent side of HPC Cloud, exposing the resource to users of a private cloud on campus, inside company or within a grid environment. VCL (Virtual Computing Lab) has been the leading solution in this space for many years, providing a scheduling-based reservation portal for users to request instance of service such as a classroom desktop image or HPC cluster (managed by LSF). An emerging main player is PCM-AE, a full-featured and commercial software from Platform Computing, now part of IBM. Platform Cluster Manager Advanced Edition (PCM-AE) has its root in both cluster management (hence the name) and cloud features such as a feature-rich user interface. Users can log in through a portal, and through a role-based model requesting/reserving resources such as physical (bare-metal) or virtual (virtualized) clusters. These cluster can be as simple as an LSF-managed multi-node system with an imbedded parallel file system running MPI jobs, to something as complicated as a hybrid cluster with latest accelerators or coprocessors.

2. Workflow
Cloud-based HPC workflow management tools haven't caught up to the growing demand from scientific users especially those build and consume sophisticated and repeatable workflow. An example is the genomic sequencing analysis pipeline from the sequence assembly to variant calling. Without an obvious solution, users typically will rely on open-source and industry-focused tools such as Galaxy for genomic analysis. The two major players here are Accelrys' Pipeline Pilot and Platform Computing's Process Manager. One common (and important) feature shared between Pipeline Pilot and Process Manager is the ability to use GUI-based tool to design, edit and manage workflows as a piece of digital asset. These asset will be stored in XML format and can be shared, published and run repeatedly by users with access to the system. Given the integration of Process Manager with PCM-AE, it has the advantage of being part of an overall HPC Cloud framework. What's still needed is the development and cataloging of industry-specific workflows so that new users don't have to start from scratch.

To be continued ...

3. Workload Management

4. Storage

5. Networking



Last Update:
2013.02.26 - first draft written in Chicago Palmer House

Honoring Country's Top Innovators and Scientists

The President recognizes the 2011 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipients at White House on Feb 1st 2013.




President Quotes:

If there is one idea that sets this country apart, one idea that makes us different from every other nation on Earth, it’s that here in America, success does not depend on where you were born or what your last name is.  Success depends on the ideas that you can dream up, the possibilities that you envision, and the hard work, the blood, sweat and tears you’re willing to put in to make them real.

We don’t always recognize the genius behind these ideas right away.  The New York Times once described Robert Goddard’s belief that rockets could one day go to the moon as “[lacking] the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”  (Laughter.)    One engineer called Einstein’s brand-new theory of relativity “voodoo nonsense.”  But with enough time, we usually come around. And we don’t give folks the same treatment that Galileo got when he came up with new ideas.  (Laughter.)  And today, it’s clearer than ever that our future as a nation depends on keeping that spirit of curiosity and innovation alive in our time.

So these honorees are at the forefront of that mission.  Thanks to the sacrifices they’ve made, the chances they’ve taken, the gallons of coffee they’ve consumed -- (laughter) -- we now have batteries that power everything from cell phones to electric cars.  We have a map of the human genome and new ways to produce renewable energy.  We’re learning to grow organs in the lab and better understand what’s happening in our deepest oceans.  And if that’s not enough, the people on this stage are also going to be responsible for devising a formula to tame frizzy hair -- (laughter) -- as well as inspiring the game Tetris.

But what also makes these individuals unique is how they’ve gotten here -- the obstacles they’ve overcome and the commitments they’ve made to push the boundaries of our understanding."

Recipients:

• MILITARY AIDE:  Allen J. Bard.  2011 National Medal of Science to Allen J. Bard, University of Texas, Austin.  For contributions in electrochemistry, including electroluminescence, semiconductor photoelectrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, and the invention of the scanning electrochemical microscope. 
• Sallie W. Chisholm.  2011 National Medal of Science to Sallie W. Chisholm, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  For contributions to the discovery and understanding of the dominant photosynthetic organisms in the ocean, promotion of the field of microbial oceanography, and influence on marine policy and management. 
• Sidney D. Drell, Stanford University.  For contributions to quantum field theory and quantum chromodynamics, application of science to inform national policies in security and intelligence, and distinguished contributions as an advisor to the United States government. 
• Sandra M. Faber, University of California, Santa Cruz.  For leadership in numerous path-breaking studies of extra-galactic astronomy and galaxy formation, and for oversight of the construction of important instruments, including the Keck telescopes.  
• Sylvester James Gates, Jr.  2011 National Medal of Science to Sylvester James Gates, Jr., University of Maryland.  For contributions to the mathematics of supersymmetry in particle, field, and string theories and extraordinary efforts to engage the public on the beauty and wonder of fundamental physics.  (Applause.)
• Solomon W. Golomb.  2011 National Medal of Science to Solomon, W. Golomb, University of Southern California.  For pioneering work in shift register sequences that changed the course of communications from analog to digital, and for numerous innovations in reliable and secure space, radar, cellular, wireless, and spread-spectrum communications.
• John B. Goodenough, University of Texas, Austin.  For groundbreaking cathode research that led to the first commercial lithium ion battery, which has since revolutionized consumer electronics with technical applications for portable and stationary power.  
• M. Frederick Hawthorne.  2011 National Medal of Science to M. Frederick Hawthorne, University of Missouri.  For highly creative pioneering research in inorganic, organometallic, and medicinal borane chemistry; sustained and profound contributions to scientific and technical advice related to national security; and for effective, prolific, and devoted service to the broad field of chemical sciences.  
• Leroy Hood.  2011 National Medal of Science to Leroy Hood, Institute for Systems Biology.  For pioneering spirit, passion, vision, inventions, and leadership combined with unique cross-disciplinary approaches resulting in entrepreneurial ventures, transformative commercial products, and several new scientific disciplines that have challenged and transformed the fields of biotechnology, genomics, proteomics, personalized medicine, and science education. 
• Barry C. Mazur, Harvard University.  For original and landmark contributions to differential topology, number theory, and arithmetic algebraic geometry, where, among other applications, his work was fundamental to Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, and for his dedication to communicating subtle mathematical ideas to the broader public. 
• Lucy Shapiro, Stanford University.  For the pioneering discovery that the bacterial cell is controlled by an integrated genetic circuit functioning in time and space that serves as a systems engineering paradigm underlying cell differentiation and ultimately the generation of diversity in all organisms. 
• Anne M. Treisman, Princeton University.  For a 50-year career of penetrating originality and depth that has led to the understanding of fundamental attentional limits in the human mind and brain.  
• Frances H. Arnold.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology.  For pioneering research on biofuels and chemicals that could lead to the replacement of pollution-generating materials.  
• George Carruthers.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to George Carruthers, U.S. Naval Research Lab.  For invention of the Far UV Electrographic Camera, which significantly improved our understanding of space and earth science.  
• Robert Langer.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Robert Langer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  For inventions and discoveries that led to the development of controlled drug release systems, engineered tissues, angiogenesis inhibitors, and new biomaterials.  
• Norman R. McCombs.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Norman R. McCombs, AirSep Corporation.  For the development and commercialization of pressure swing adsorption oxygen-supply systems with a wide range of medical and industrial applications that have led to improved health and substantially reduced health care costs.  
• Gholam A. Peyman.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Gholam A. Peyman, University of Arizona College of Medicine and Arizona Retinal Specialists.  For invention of the LASIK surgical technique, and for developing the field of intraocular drug administration and expanding the field of retinal surgery.  
• Arthur H. Rosenfeld.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Arthur H. Rosenfeld, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and California Institute for Energy and Environment and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  For extraordinary leadership in the development of energy-efficient building technologies and related standards and policies. 
• Jan T. Vilcek.  2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Jan T. Vilcek, New York University School of Medicine.  For pioneering work on interferons and key contributions to the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.  
•  Rangaswamy Srinivasan and James Wynne.  2011 National Medal of Technology and innovation to Samuel Blum, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, and James Wynne, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center.  For the pioneering discovery of excimer laser ablative photodecomposition of human and animal tissue, laying the foundation for PRK and LASIK, laser refractive surgical techniques that have revolutionized vision enhancement.  
•  Edward Campbell.  2011 National Medal of Technology and innovation to Raytheon BBN Technologies, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  For sustained innovation through the engineering of first-of-a-kind, practical systems in acoustics, signal processing, and information technology. 

Links:

• Original transcripts from White House