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Commission
European
Community research
Project repor t
High-Performance
Computing
RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES
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IMPROVING THE HUMAN RESEARCH POTENTIAL AND
THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE BASE
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Interested in European research?
RTD info is our quarterly magazine keeping you in touch
with main developments (results, programmes, events, etc.).
It is available in English, French and German. A free
sample copy or a free subscription can be obtained from:
Directorate-General for Research
Communication Unit
European Commission
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 29-58220
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/rtdinfo.html
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Research
Programme: ‘Improving the human research
potential and the socio-economic knowledge base’
Contact: C. Warden
European Commission
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 (SDME 4/36)
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 29-63270
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.cordis.lu/improving
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Page 1
European Commission
Research Infrastructures
High-Performance Computing
The European Round-Table on High-Performance Computing
by Alison Kennedy, Round-Table Coordinator
Editor: Campbell Warden (European Commission)
Improving the human research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base
Directorate-General for Research
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LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible
for the use which might be made of the following information.
A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2000
ISBN 92-894-0027-7
© European Communities, 2000
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER
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Table of Contents
Page
5
FOREWORD
7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
9
INTRODUCTION
11
PROFILE OF THE PARTNERS
13
THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NETWORK
13
20
22
22
1. Researchers' Access to LSF
(TRACS, ICARUS, ACCESS)
2. Data Storage, Management and Data
Interoperability Enterprise Groups
3. Visualisation and Emerging Computing
Techniques Enterprise Group
4. DIRECT User Questionnaire and Strategic
Review of High Performance Computing
in Europe – "Where is European HPC going"
5. Meetings and Workshops
6. DIRECTIONS Electronic Newsletter
7. DIRECT Web Site
23
THE FUTURE
24
LOCATION AND DATA OF DIRECT NETWORK
26
ACCESS TO RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES
16
17
19
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CAMRA, a non-invasive
heart diagnostic tool, has
been developed by EPCC in
collaboration with some of
Europe's leading hospitals,
under the auspices of
Technology Transfer
Programme, initiated and
supported by the EC.
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FOREWORD
Many fields of European research are underpinned by access to world-class research infrastructures.
However, the majority of such facilities are owned by National Government agencies and are open
mainly to their national user community. In view of this, successive editions of the ‘Framework
Programme’ (FP) for Community R&D have supported transnational access to a selected group of
outstanding research infrastructures.
This has been widened to include the funding of a series of Round-Tables which have brought
together the operators and representatives of the user community in a particular class of facilities
around a common research theme, in this case High-Performance Computing. These Round-Tables
have been much more effective than ‘usual’ interactions between scientists because they have
guaranteed the participation of the full range of institutional facilities and the representatives of the
users, avoiding obvious problems of narrow or partisan actions. Their mission has focused on finding
and implementing the solutions to problems of common interest and seeding new transnational
collaborations.
As scientists have become familiar with the use of computer simulation they have attempted to solve
larger and more complex problems. Paradoxically, the increase in availability of powerful desktop
facilities has stimulated demand for access to state-of-the-art supercomputers in order to tackle those
problems that are too big or too complex to run on conventional computers. However, supercomputers
remain extremely expensive to buy and to operate, with the majority of facilities being run nationally,
and offering little or no access to non-national researchers. Many researchers in industry and
academia do not yet have easy access to supercomputing facilities.
The Human Capital and Mobility (HCM) and Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR) Programmes
have supported Transnational Access and have enabled researchers from all over Europe to make use
of state-of-the-art facilities. This funding is continuing through the EC’s Improving Human Potential
(IHP) programme, in particular the Enhancing Access to Research Infrastructures action, which
supports research visits to a small number of world-class Research Infrastructures in Europe.
This brochure has been prepared by the Coordinator of the Round-Table for High-Performance
Computing and it aims to provide useful information both to the researchers active in this field and
to those responsible for developing new research infrastructure in this area.
I am very pleased to present this excellent example of how multi-national research co-operation has
developed for those who are working in fields where such a highly developed culture of cross-border
co-operation does not yet normally exist. The EC wishes to continue to encourage such development.
Therefore it will make available during the period 2000-2003 at least 180 million Euro to support
top-class research infrastructure through the activity ‘Enhancing Access to Research Infrastructures’
within FP 5.
Manuela Soares
Acting Director
Improving the Human Research Potential and the Socio-economic Knowledge Base
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The desktop computer of today contains as much power as the largest supercomputer of only a
decade ago. European researchers have already taken advantage of the increased availability of
computing power to turn to computer modelling and computer simulation in an ever-increasing range
of applications areas. Traditional research methods such as analysis and observation have limitations
when scientists are investigating large-scale phenomena. Computational research makes it possible
to study problems which are beyond the reach of the traditional methods alone or which cannot be
controlled or reproduced in the laboratory.
European supercomputing centres host a range of exceptionally powerful hardware resources and
leading edge computing technologies, which constitute an enormous potential for future research and
development. As the number of researchers who use supercomputers increases, and the application
areas broaden, so the demand for access to these facilities is growing. The European Community
realises the vital importance of the role which supercomputing centres play in European research. It is
committed to offering access to the best in High-Performance Computing (HPC) to all European users,
particularly to those users who do not have routine access to state-of-the-art computers in a national
facility in the country in which they work.
DIRECT, a Round-Table in High Performance Computing and Networking, supported by the EC, was
formed as a network of supercomputing centres and their users to share experiences and distil best
practice. This Round-Table aims to address the role of emerging technologies in defining future
directions and the impact this will have on the service that centres provide to meet users’ needs.
DIRECT provides a forum in which service providers and users can meet to discuss current and future
access requirements, as well as solutions to problems of common interest and to plan collaborative
projects of mutual benefit.
In this brochure we take a look at the current state of High-Performance Computing from the
perspective of the European user community, and assess the needs and aspirations of this community
in terms of how HPC is evolving. We attempt to evaluate the changing roles of supercomputing
centres, in order to establish the future directions of large scale computing. We also take a look at the
services that supercomputing centres are currently providing and expect to provide in the future.
High-Performance Computing is an area in which technology is evolving very fast. The pace of
hardware and software change means that previously intractable problems may become tractable, in
the space of a few months. It is an exciting environment in which to work for the users of
supercomputing centres who may make scientific breakthroughs, if they are given access to the best
facilities in Europe. Supercomputing centres themselves are under pressure to keep abreast of the
latest technological developments and to understand how they will benefit European users in this
fast-changing area.
The DIRECT Concerted Action hopes that this publication will be of interest to the scientific
community, to all present and future users of High-Performance Computing and to funding agencies
and policy makers.
Alison Kennedy
Coordinator of the DIRECT Concerted Action
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INTRODUCTION
THE HISTORY OF THE ROUND-TABLE
DIRECT's predecessor during the EC Framework Programme 3 (FP3) was the Round Table on HighPerformance Computing and Networking (HPCN). This included representatives of users as well as
managers of the centres that were funded under Access to Large Scale Facilities, and met once a year
to discuss their participation in the Access programme.
The Large Scale Facilities (LSFs) welcomed the opportunity to expand their role in a Concerted Action,
and to develop cooperation and complementarity between the centres. Most of the members of the
Round Table helped to set up the DIRECT Concerted Action. They were joined by a number of
organisations representing users of HPC, and by one of the new Large Scale Facilities, a social science
Data Centre. The members of the outgoing Round Table agreed that the theme of the Concerted
Action would be High-Performance Computing and Data.
The Users' Representatives provide relevant information about their current and future needs for
access to the Facilities. By focussing attention on activities such as dissemination, workshops and
reports, DIRECT can ensure the relevance of the Concerted Action’s findings and provides an
opportunity for two-way communication with interested parties outside the network.
DIRECT CONCERTED ACTION OVERVIEW
Through the DIRECT Concerted Action, the participants have united in a Round-Table in HighPerformance Computing and Networking (HPCN) and its applications. Participants represent both
service providers and their users. Together, we aim to address the role of emerging computer
technologies, such as HPCN, in defining the future direction of scientific computing and the impact
on major Research Infrastructures (RIs).
The DIRECT Concerted Action seeks to mirror the situation in HPC and IT today. LSFs possess
expensive and complex hardware to enable realistic models to be run or analysis performed. These
centres work in close partnership with their users, who depend on them not only for their specialist
facilities but also for assistance with optimisation and visualisation techniques.
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Institution
Country
Status
Rationale
Von Karman Institute
Belgium
USER
CFD Expert
LMD du CNRS
France
USER
Climatology Expert
CERFACS
France
USER
TTN and CFD/CEM & Climatology Expert
IDRIS
France
LSF-OTH
LSF
EMBL
Germany
LSF-HCM
Molecular Biology Expert
DKRZ
Germany
LSF-HCM
Climatology Expert
FORTH
Greece
USER
Computational Chemistry Expert
CINECA
Italy
LSF-TMR
TTN and LSF
TU-Delft
Netherlands
LSF-OTH
CFD Expert
CESCA-CEPBA
Spain
LSF-TMR
LSF
EPCC
United Kingdom
LSF-TMR
TTN and LSF
CLRC
United Kingdom
LSF-OTH
CFD Expert
ECASS
United Kingdom
LSF-TMR
LSF
EBI
United Kingdom
USER
TTN and Molecular Biology Expert
Table 1: Participants in the DIRECT Round-Table
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PROFILE OF THE PARTNERS
Von Karman Institute
The Von Karman Institute is a non-profit international educational and scientific organisation, hosting
three departments: aeronautics and aerospace, environmental and applied fluid dynamics, and
turbomachinery.
LMD du CNRS
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) scientific departments and institutes encompass
virtually all fields of knowledge: physical sciences and mathematics, nuclear and particle physics,
sciences of the universe, engineering sciences, chemical sciences, life sciences, humanities and social
sciences.
CERFACS
CERFACS is one of the world's leading research institutes working on efficient algorithms for solving
large-scale scientific problems. Research at CERFACS is organised in specific projects, namely: parallel
algorithms, computational fluid dynamics, climate modelling and global change, electromagnetism
and control, image and signal processing.
IDRIS de CNRS
IDRIS (Institute for Development and Resources in Intensive Scientific computing) is both a national
server for High-Performance Computing and a centre of excellence in those aspects of advanced
information technology relevant to its missions.
EMBL
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) provides European biologists with access to large
instruments for the study of protein structures, some of the world's oldest and biggest databases of
DNA and protein sequences, and a host of services operated by highly-trained biologists who are at
the same time carrying out their own research
DKRZ
The DKRZ is the Service Centre for Climate Researchers in Germany, which provides advice to all users
in data processing and gives technical and logistical support in holding workshops together with
external scientists within the frame of the German climate research program.
IESL – FORTH
The Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) is one of the seven institutes which comprise
FORTH, the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, based in Heraklion, Crete.
CINECA
The CINECA Consortium is a large and important scientific computing centre for public and private
research in Italy. The mission of CINECA is to manage the computing centre and to promote and
disseminate the use of the most advanced hardware and software systems in the academic and
research community.
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TU-Delft
Delft University of Technology is the largest, oldest and the most comprehensive university of
technology in the Netherlands.
CESCA-CEPBA
The Centre de Supercomputació de Catalunya (CESCA) was inaugurated in October 1991 with the
aim of offering High-Performance Computing services to universities, research centres and enterprises.
EPCC
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) was established in 1990 as a focus for the University of
Edinburgh's work in High-Performance Computing.
CCLRC
The UK Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils is responsible for one of Europe's
largest multidisciplinary research support organisations, the Central Laboratory of the Research
Councils (CCLRC).
ECASS
ECASS is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Essex within the Institute for the
Social Sciences (ISS). ECASS is a centre for comparative and longitudinal data analysis, which
conducts and facilitates the empirical study of social and economic change by integrating
longitudinal and trans-national European datasets.
EMBL-EBI
The EMBL – European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) is a centre for research and services in the use of
informatics in the life sciences. The Institute manages databases of biological data including nucleic
acid, protein sequences and macromolecular structures.
Electron density with coloured
potential representation of
benzene and ethanol. ICARUS
project.
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ROUND-TABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
1. ACCESS TO LARGE SCALE FACILITIES FOR RESEARCHERS
TRACS at EPCC
The Training and Research on Advanced Computing Systems (TRACS) Programme has been funded
since 1993 under the HCM and TMR Programmes of the EC. During the six years of the programme,
EPCC has delivered 585 visitor months of access to European researchers. TRACS has been successful
in attracting applicants from a wide range of eligible EC and EEA countries. The TRACS team has
supported visiting researchers in disciplines new to HPC such as music and business studies as well
as in the disciplines that are traditional users of HPC such as the physical sciences. TRACS visits have
resulted in 115 scientific publications and continuous collaboration between visitors and host
department.
Example of TRACS project, by Michael Herzog, Germany
The Active Tracer High Resolution Atmospheric Model (ATHAM) was originally designed to simulate
explosive volcanic eruptions. During an EC-funded TRACS visit to EPCC in 1999, Michael Herzog
developed and successfully implemented a parallel version of ATHAM using MPI. The parallel version
of the code opens a completely new domain of applications for ATHAM. With the MPI version
available, it is now possible to apply it to plume chemistry, allowing a more realistic description of the
microphysical processes that take place in the plume.
Furthermore, the model can be used to investigate biomass-burning plumes and processes in strong
convective clouds.
ICARUS at CINECA
The ICARUS Project, funded by the TMR Programme of EC, has been, since its beginning in 1994, a
crossroads where different areas of expertise have had the opportunity to interact and to share
research initiatives. Following visits from several researchers in archaeology, a Laboratory of
Computational Archaeology has, over the past three years, been created at the University of Jaen
(Spain). Similarly, interaction among researchers and research groups hosted by the University of
Bologna has resulted in the creation of a new laboratory that has a specific goal: to introduce HPC
into bimolecular modelling and the discovery of new drugs.
In the period between October 1998 to April 2000, 52 European researchers benefited from access
to CINECA's supercomputing facilities, with a total of 224 weeks of access.
Example of ICARUS Project, by Dra. M.L. Senent, Spain
This project was carried out during a visit to CINECA and concerns the study of the structural and
spectroscopic analysis of certain interesting molecules using ab initio calculations and variational
methods. The aim was to extend previous theoretical models and computer programs to the multidimensional analysis of several species. The molecules selected were of two well-known species,
benzene and ethanol.
Access to CINECA's supercomputing facilities made it possible to perform variational calculations of
the far infrared frequencies of various isotopic species of ethanol.
13
ACCESS project.
A model of an
erupting volcano
produced on a high
performance
computer.
It is thought that a
phenomenon like
this devastated
Pompeii.
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ACCESS at CESCA-CEPBA
One of the important characteristics of CESCA and CEPBA as a large-scale facility is that they are in
the centre of a large University infrastructure with research groups in various fields that range from
theoretical chemistry to structure simulation and computer science. Since the start of the ACCESS
programme in 1993, funded by the TMR Programme of the EC, a total of 199 visitors have come for
250 visits, hosted by 54 research groups, and resulting in a total of 262 publications.
Example of ACCESS project, by Dimitris Nikolopoulos, Greece
The work developed by Dimitris Nikolopoulos is an extension to the EC-funded NANOS project, which
has already been successfully completed. In particular, the NANOS environment was used to develop
a library to provide support for page migration. The target of the project was the development of a
complete environment in which interactions between mechanisms and policies at different levels
(application, compiler, threads library and kernel) would be carefully coordinated. The execution
environment proved to be very adaptable to different architectures and has been used as a tool to
analyse the performance of current shared-memory multiprocessors. The results of this work showed
that the placement of data in parallel applications run on NUMA multiprocessors like the O2000 is
very important to obtain high performance.
The arena of “numerically
intensive computation” has
changed radically with the
rise of the “killer micros”.
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2. DATA STORAGE AND MANAGEMENT AND DATA INTEROPERABILITY
ENTERPRISE GROUPS
Data management and data storage skills have traditionally been the preserve of data centres and
of users such as climatologists, who need to store and manage large volumes of data in order to
undertake their research. Increasingly such centres are relying on HPC to provide computing power
and in many cases, the management of datasets has now passed to the HPC providers. These centres
are now required to facilitate access to data files of varying sizes, types and formats and to investigate
methods of data storage and management. Applications such as climate modelling are a challenge
to the data storage capacities of HPC facilities.
With the increase in the volume of data being produced and stored, data interoperability is a topic
of concern to participants in collaborative projects and programmes, such as TMR, which facilitate the
mobility of researchers. Increasingly collaborative working requires a sharing not only of technical
skills but also of data. This data may be stored on a wide variety of storage devices, in a wide variety
of formats, and vary greatly in size. With the greater mobility of researchers, data must also become
more mobile. The agreement of standards to facilitate the simple transfer of data around the EU is of
vital importance.
The Data Storage and Management and Data Interoperability Enterprise Groups have provided data
centres, HPC centres and users with a forum inwhich to discuss problems and share solutions.
The Enterprise Groups looked at the present situation with respect to data standardisation, data
representation, data transfers, data mediation and other topics of interest to scientists dependent on
the interchange of scientific data.
Based on this study of the present situation they made recommendations to improve data storage,
management and mobility across the EU. Following the Joint Workshop (see 5., page 21) of the two
groups in September 1998 in Essex, UK, a detailed Technical Watch Report was produced. The state
of the art, the problems users have encountered, and lines of future development in data access and
data storage are outlined in the Technical Watch Report. The report is available on-line on the DIRECT
web pages: http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/direct
Without adequate
data archival
historical and new
data may well be
lost.
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3. VISUALISATION AND EMERGING COMPUTING TECHNIQUES
ENTERPRISE GROUP
As the quantity of data produced by simulations grows, so does the difficulty of extracting useful
information. Indeed, it is now clear that in many applications visual methods are the only practical
way of extracting information from the data. Consequently, computer graphics and scientific
visualisation techniques have become more important in the last few years with the increased
availability of computing resource and of visualisation tools.
Visualisation is becoming one of the key tools for problem solving both in traditional areas such as
visualisation of complex flow, and in new applications areas like the planning of surgical operations
using 3-D reconstruction of anatomical sites, or the development of highly-realistic aircraft simulators
for pilot training.
Scientific and engineering advances, particularly in the study of complex phenomena, are increasingly
dependent on new approaches to computing, information handling, and communications that blur
the boundaries between the realm of bits and numbers in the computer, the realm of graphics and
images, and the realm of acquired human knowledge. As the phenomena that scientists study grow
in complexity, gleaning understanding from the results becomes increasingly difficult.
Visualisation transforms raw data into graphical representations that exploit the high-bandwidth
channel of the human visual system, and take advantage of the brain's remarkable ability to detect
patterns and draw inferences. Even with current technology, computers can process data at
remarkable speeds, but are incapable of any real understanding, and cannot reliably find relevant
features or draw correct and relevant conclusions. As a result, human expertise is central to any
process that requires understanding. Scientific visualisation, that is, the coupling of human
understanding and pattern recognition abilities to the problems of scientific understanding, provides
the best means available for acquiring understanding from the complex phenomena scientists and
engineers now face.
High-Performance Computing of complex
interfaces in fluids. By Alexander Wagner
et al, Condensed Matter Group, Dept of
Physics, University of Edinburgh, UK.
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The Scientific Visualisation Enterprise Group brought together representatives from LSFs and user
groups, such as CFD experts and biologists. The Enterprise Group has looked at the existing provision
for scientific visualisation in Europe and tries to ensure that future provision takes account of the
needs of traditional users of these facilities and of emerging applications fields. The group has also
discussed emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality, Virtual Laboratories etc.
An increasing number of institutions are combining their computing facilities with high performance
graphics capabilities. For example, CINECA has had significant support from DIRECT in completing
its project for the first Italian reality centre, which helps users to handle very large and complex data
sets and gain insight from them.
Among others CINECA received a significant support by DIRECT initiatives in finalising its project for
the implementation of the first Italian reality centre, a facility to support the capability of users to
deal with very large and complex volumes of data and the aspects associated with the corresponding
insight needs.
The discussion of these issues will be continued at an international conference, which is scheduled at
CINECA 16-17 October 2000. The details of this event will be accessible at CINECA and at the
DIRECT www site: http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/direct
Simulating magnetised plasmas with the
versatile advection code: simulation of the
mixing of a heavy (magnetised) compressible
plasma with a lighter one, produced by Dr
Rony Keppens during his EC-funded TMR
visit to EPCC.
18
Visualisation of Raleigh Taylor Instability,
produced by Dr Rony Keppens during his
EC-funded TMR visit to EPCC.
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4. DIRECT USER QUESTIONNAIRE AND STRATEGIC REVIEW OF HIGHPERFORMANCE COMPUTING IN EUROPE – "WHERE IS EUROPEAN HPC
GOING"
Traditionally, computer centres have been viewed as principally providing computing power to users.
Today, with the advent of large amounts of cheap computer power on the desktop this simple model
has become outmoded. A better view of the modern computer centre is as a facility that combines
training, applications support, and computing cycles with data storage and management. In
determining the correct balance of these functions it is vital to monitor and anticipate users' needs
at all levels from hardware provision to applications development.
With this in view, between November 1998 and May 1999 EPCC conducted an on-line survey of
visitors to the DIRECT web pages. An electronic questionnaire was used in an attempt to determine
which of the facilities and services provided by HPC centres are most relevant to their users. Versions
of the questionnaire were made available in six European languages – English, French, German,
Spanish, Italian and Greek.
A total of 190 responses were received, yielding a reasonable sample size. Based on the survey results,
a Strategic Review of HPC in Europe was undertaken. The Strategic Report takes a look at the current
state of High-Performance Computing from the perspective of the European user community, and
assesses the needs and aspirations of this community in terms of where HPC might be going, and
where, perhaps, it should be going. The main aim of this report is to capture a snapshot of HPC
activities, from the technology itself through related services to the direct views of its European user
base, and attempt to draw the whole together into some form of roadmap for large-scale computing
in the twenty-first century. The Strategic Review Report is publicly available on the DIRECT web pages:
http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/direct
Propagation of elastic waves: model of
seismic wave propagation in
heterogeneous media. Produced by
Norbert Gold, during hic EC-funded TMR
visit to EPCC.
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High-Performance Computing technologies are an
important and integrated component of the design process
in most manufacturing industries today.
Photo: Gair Dunlop.
High-Performance Computing can provide just the
required leverage to solve difficult production
planning optimisation problems.
Photo: Gair Dunlop.
5. MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
The pressures on Large Scale Facilities and their users are growing. The technologies used in HighPerformance Computing and Networking, Data Storage and Management, and Visualisation are all
evolving rapidly. Constant monitoring to evaluate the potential effects of new technologies is very
time consuming but necessary. At the same time, user expectations are increasing. As HPC becomes
mainstream, and the number and range of LSF users grows, so does the range of services and
competencies which the LSFs are expected to provide. A decade ago, an LSF's main role was to provide
access to a small number of competent users. Now centres also need to provide training, applications
support, data storage and management facilities, and visualisation services. It is impossible for all
centres to be experts in all areas. The obvious solution is for centres to cooperate and share their
knowledge.
DIRECT aims to foster a culture of cooperation among TMR LSFs and other LSFs in Europe and to
provide them with a forum at which they can discuss problems and share solutions. On a
technological level, sharing information means that duplication of effort at different centres can be
avoided, and the “re-inventing the wheel” problem will be solved.
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In the course of the DIRECT initiative it emerged that supercomputing and data centres across Europe
are facing the same challenges, and the vital importance of cooperation has been stressed. The
emphasis is now placed on working together and collaborating. In view of this, DIRECT partners have
organised and participated in a number of workshops, focusing on different problems of
interdisciplinary interest.
Joint DIO-DSM Workshop, Colchester, September 1998
A Joint Workshop of the Data Storage and Management (DSM), and Data Interoperability Enterprise
Groups (DIO) was held on 28-30 September 1998 in Colchester, Essex, UK.
Representatives of DIRECT Round-Table organisations from all over Europe participated in the
workshop. The main areas of discussion were problems of managing large data sets, data usage and
interoperability issues, and other related topics such as CORBA.
The Workshop was very successful and has received very positive feedback from all the participants.
The contributions of the participants are publicly available on-line.
Visualisation Group Workshop, Bologna, January 1999
The first workshop of the DIRECT Visualisation and Emerging Computing Techniques Enterprise Group
was held at CINECA Inter-University Computer Centre on 22-23 January 1999. The importance of
visualisation as an HPC tool was underlined, with many examples from a wide range of application
fields.
The key discussion points of the workshop were:
a) Visualisation of scientific data is a major component of computational science and engineering;
b) VR techniques are emerging as the complementary infrastructure of a large scale computing
facility;
c) The quantity and complexity of data that will be produced by large-scale simulation codes and
other sources of scientific and technical data over the next few years will vastly exceed today's data
management and visualisation capabilities;
d) The development of large-scale scientific computation and advanced scientific instruments means
that we need to increase investment in scientific data manipulation and visualisation research.
Workshop on Advanced Data Storage/Management Techniques for
High-Performance Computing, 23-25 February 2000, Daresbury, UK
Organised by Kerstin Kleese (CLRC) and Michael Lautenschlager (DKRZ), this workshop was an
important success, with a total of 100 participants. The excellent presentations gave rise to numerous
interesting and lively discussions. Among over thirty talks given, six were by members of the DIRECT
Data Storage and Management and Data Interoperability Enterprise Groups. The full programme with
abstracts is available on-line: http://www.dl.ac.uk/TCSC/datamanagement/tab2.html
Workshop proceedings will be published in May 2000. To order a copy of the proceedings please
contact: Kerstin Kleese, CLRC – Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Warrington, WA4 4AD UK (Data
Management 2000).
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6. DIRECTIONS ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
DIRECTIONS Electronic Newsletter is a quarterly on-line publication which aims to facilitate the
interchange of news, ideas and latest developments among DIRECT members and the HPC
community in general. DIRECTIONS features articles that are of interest and importance to its
audience, and DIRECT participants regularly contribute to this publication. Another important
purpose of DIRECTIONS is to spread and promote DIRECT ideas within European scientific
community.
The first issue was dated 30 June 1998. Since then, seven issues have produced and made available
via DIRECT web pages: http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/direct/directions.html
7. DIRECT WEB SITE
The Round-Table Coordinator (EPCC) has put together and is maintaining the DIRECT Web Site, which
is an important communication and dissemination tool for DIRECT participants and the HPC
community in general. It contains general information about the project, its participating
organisations, Enterprise Groups, news and events, and a collection of relevant links. DIRECT
documentation, such as TechWatch and Strategic Review Reports and contributions from DIRECT
participants has been made available both to view on-line and to download. The web pages have
already attracted the attention of Scientific Computing World, who featured the project in their April
1998 edition and of Springer-Verlag, who have contacted us for further information.
The biggest
computational
challenges come
from modelling the
relatively mundane
features of our
immediate
environment –
weather, the earth,
water, the landscape.
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THE FUTURE
The DIRECT initiative has identified key areas of future technological advances and triggered
numerous discussions on an interdisciplinary level. In the course of the Round-Table, a number of
trends have emerged which will determine the future direction of scientific computing. DIRECT
succeeded in re-evaluating the changing roles of supercomputing centres and created the basis for
the much-needed shift towards value-added services which supercomputing centres are expected to
provide. DIRECT will help to bring the technology closer to the real user, and to bridge the gap
between science and industry.
DIRECT has outlined the necessity for collaboration on a pan-European scale. Under the auspices of
DIRECT, the new concepts of "metacentre” and "the Grid” have been given a new, wider dimension.
The Grid is nowadays viewed as the next generation of Internet technology. The Internet provides a
ubiquitous global information space. The Grid will extend this network functionality to provide
ubiquitous computation and data storage functionality. Just as the web continues to change the way
the world communicates, the Grid will change the way the world accesses and thinks of computation.
The term 'Grid' has been coined by analogy with the idea of national power grids which provide a
highly robust, standard source of electrical power to individuals and organisations. The Grid will
provide the same kind of robust, standard access to information, computational and data storage
systems. Within Europe the Grid holds great promise for improved interworking between national
LSFs, which can complement each other and hence provide a better set of facilities for European
researchers.
Another key trend is the linkage between academic and industrial computing. In the past, only large
industries could afford to be involved in high-end computing. Today, clusters of PCs potentially make
the technology available to all, but in practice acceptable performance is only achievable with expert
assistance. Supercomputing centres have a role in aiding SMEs to use their already-installed hardware
more effectively and in working with them to transfer academic methods and techniques for business
benefit.
With this background, the fundamental question which DIRECT attempted to answer, is: at the start
of the new millennium how are users' needs evolving and what changes do the national centres need
to make to respond? Although the specific questions to be addressed are disparate, they all focus on
one issue: the impact of emerging technologies, their practicality and cost-effectiveness and the
consequent impact on working practices.
The EC continues to play a crucial role in a number of areas. Firstly, through its support of
Transnational Access, it enables promising researchers from all applications and geographical areas
to make use of the best facilities in Europe, with appropriate practical support. Secondly, through the
support of the Concerted Action, the operators of High-Performance Computing centres have been
provided with a forum in which they can discuss future needs, work in cooperation and share
information to enable them to provide the best possible support to the growing number of users of
their facilities.
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LOCATION AND DATA OF DIRECT NETWORK
13
5
7
8
1
6
4 2
11
3
10
12
9
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1. Delft University of Technology,
Lorentzweg 1, P.O Box 5046,
NL-2600 GA Delft
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 15 278 5037
Fax: +31 15 278 608
2. Centre IDRIS / CNRS1
Bat CIRCE 506, BP 167,
F-91403 Orsay
France
Tel: +33 1 69 35 85 85
Fax: +33 1 6985 37 75
3. European Molecular Biology Laboratory,
Postfach 10.2209 Meyerhofstrasse 1,
D-6900 Heidelberg
Germany
Tel: +49 6221 387265
Fax: +49 6221 398306
4. Laboratoire de Meteorolgie Dynamique
du CNRS,
Tour 25, 5eme etage, BP 99,
4 place Jussieu,
F-75252 Paris Cedex 05
France
Tel: +33 1 44 277352
Fax: +33 1 44 276272
5. DKRZ
Bundesstr. 55
D-20146 Hamburg
Germany
Tel: +49 40 41173 314
Fax: +49 40 41173 270
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6. Von Karman Institute for Fluid
Dynamics,
Chaussee de Waterloo 72,
B-1640 Rhode-St-Genese
Belgium
Tel: +32 2 359 9635
Fax: +32 2 359 9600
10. CINECA
Via Magnanelli 6/3
I-40033 Casalecchio di Reno
Bologna
Italy
Tel: +39 51 6171514
Fax: +39 51 6592581
7. CCLRC
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Chilton Didcot
Oxfordshire OX11 OQX
UK
Tel: +44 1235 445657
Fax: +44 1235 446626
11. CERFACS
42 Avenue Gaspard Coriolis cedex 1
F-31057 Toulouse
France
Tel: +33 561 19 30 01
Fax: +33 561 19 30 30
8. European Centre for Analysis in the
Social Science
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester Essex CO4 3SQ
UK
Tel: +44 1206 872009
Fax: +44 1206 872403
9. IESL FORTH
Vassilika Vouton PO Box 1527
GR-711 10 Heraklion, Crete
Greece
Tel: +30 81 391813
Fax: +30 81 391305
12. C4 – CESCA
Gran Capitan, 2-4, Edifici Nexus,
E-08034 Barcelona
Spain
Tel: +34 93 205 6464
Fax: +34 93 205 6979
13. EPCC
James Clerk Maxwell Building
Kingís Buildings
Mayfield Road
Edinburgh EH9 3JZ
UK
Tel: +44 131 650 5030
Fax: +44 131 650 6555
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ACCESS TO RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES
In 1989, under the Second “Framework Programme for Community R&D”, the European Commission
introduced a scheme to help Europe’s top researchers, as well as young scientists, to obtain time at
whichever facility was best equipped for their research, irrespective of where it was located in the
European Union, or who owned and operated it. To this end, since the late 1980s, successive
Framework Programmes have contained an activity designed to provide such access and the funds to
enable researchers to take advantage of it. The European Union’s Programme “Improving Human
Research Potential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base” (part of the Fifth Framework Programme)
is the premier provider of transnational Access to Research Infrastructures (ARI). The funding also
supports transnational RTD projects, Round-Tables and Infrastructure Cooperation Networks.
Access to Research Infrastructures funding aims to ensure that European researchers gain access to
facilities on the basis of their scientific merit and are not limited by the geographic location or national
ownership of a particular establishment. Over the years, ARI support has opened up facilities all over
Europe from the Arctic Circle to French Guyana and the Canary Islands or the Negev Desert. For about
70% of all the researchers already supported by this activity it was their first opportunity to use the
facility and more than 80% would otherwise not have been able to obtain access.
The importance and success of this activity (under previous programmes and the present one) is
clearly demonstrated by the following figures:
• Under the Large Installations Plan (1989-1992) about 1,600 researchers were provided access to
17 facilities.
• Under the Human Capital and Mobility Programme (1990-1994) more than 4,000 researchers
were provided access to 72 facilities.
• Under the Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR) Programme, on average more than 2,000
researchers per year have been provided access to 116 of Europe’s top facilities.
• So far, under the Improving Human Potential Programme, access contracts have been signed with
111 large research infrastructures, so access will continue to be provided to about 2,000
researchers per annum.
Access to the facilities is open to researchers, in the public and private sector, who are resident in an
EU country or of one of the Programme’s Associated States. The access must involve transnational
travel to a facility to which the researchers (or users) do not already have right of access. For details
on how and when to apply, applicants should contact the respective facility directly (not the European
Commission!). In all cases a peer review committee will screen applications to ensure that access is
awarded to the most worthy research projects with special emphasis being placed on first time users
(who are mostly Ph.D. students and young post-docs).
A brief description of each of the current installations available and on the ARI Action can be found
on our Web site. Information brochures can be requested from the EC:
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: +32 2 299 2102
For further information see “Access to Research Infrastructures” at:
http://www.cordis.lu/improving/src/hp_ari.htm
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European Commission
Research Infrastructures
High Performance Computing
by Alison Kennedy
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
2000 — 26 pp. — 21 x 29.7 cm
ISBN 92-894-0027-7
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15
This brochure gives an overview of current challenges, future trends and the needs and
requirements of the European scientifiic community in this ever-evolving area. It also explains
how EC-supported research infrastructures contribute to solving computationally intensive
scientific problems of today. This publication will be of interest both to those in the field and
to those who are interested in becoming involved in transnational research.
OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
L-2985 Luxembourg
ISBN 92-894-0027-7
,!7IJ2I9-eaachf!
KI-29-00-367-EN-C
One in the series of brochures to highlight the contribution made by the Community research
infrastructure programmes in the field of High-Performance Computing (HPC), based on the
outcome of the successful DIRECT Round-Table in high-performance computing supported
by the EC