Friday 13 November 2020

Name that supercomputer 2 (Quiz)

It's a long time since I did an HPC quiz, so here is one to keep some fun in these odd times. Can you name these supercomputers?

I'm looking for actual machine names (e.g. 'Fugaku') and the host site (e.g. RIKEN CCS). Bonus points for the machine details (e.g. Fujitsu A64FX).

Submit your guesses or knowledgeable answers either through the comments field below, or to me on twitter (@hpcnotes).

Answers will be revealed once there have been enough guesses to amuse me. Have fun!


  1. Maybe it's Italian style, but this oily system has a purely descriptive name, a bit like the name of a robot with a short circuit.

  2. In spite of the name, this one is a step away from the very top.

  3. The seven daughters of Atlas.

  4. Arising from a beautiful reef, this top supercomputer is named after one of my co-presenters at my SC19 tutorial (or so we think).

  5. This border system's owner often tells how it was renamed in planning due to a bigger newer super that took it's original name.

  6. It has no name, at least not publicly, and the operator has not been open with full details, but with 10,000 GPUs it can do a lot of AI.

  7. On the road to exascale, but not there yet, this system will be housed next year in a chilly northern European location, and shares some similar architecture to two of the first exascale systems.

  8. A chicken with green-ish / brown-ish eyes. Or is it a type of nut?

  9. In a rare move, this number 9 is named after a living scientist, actually one of its users.

  10. Sing a song for this one, because it is named to be hit hard.

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Monday 9 November 2020

Snackable videos

 Snackable videos

A few rash moments on my part on twitter and now I'm committed to recording a series of mini-videos about HPC and related topics.

Watch the first episode on the hpcnotes YouTube channel to find out more!


Friday 22 May 2020

What makes a Supercomputer Centre a Supercomputer Centre?

When is a Supercomputer Center not a Supercomputer Center?

The world of HPC has always been a place of rapid change in technology with slower change in business models and skill profiles, but what actually makes a supercomputer center a supercomputer center?

Tin (or Silcon maybe)

Is it having a big HPC system? How big counts? Does it matter what type of "big" system you have?

Does it matter if there is not one big supercomputer but instead a handful of medium sized ones of different types?

Does it count if the supercomputers are across the street, or in a self-owned/operated datacentre the other side of town? What if the supercomputers are located hundreds of miles away from the HPC (eg to get cheap power & cooling)?

Who and How

Or is it having a team of HPC experts able to help users? How many experts? What level of expertise counts? How many have to be RSE (Research Software Engineer) types?

Is it having the vision and processes to recognise they are primarily a service provider to their users ("customers") rather than thinking of themselves mainly as a buyer of HPC kit?

What if you mainly have AI workloads rather than "traditional" HPC? What if you only run many small simulation jobs and no simulations that span thousands of cores? What if users only ever submit jobs via web portals and never log in to the supercomputers directly?

Is it essential to have a .edu, .gov, .ac.uk etc. address? Or can .com be a supercomputer center too?

This but not that?

If you have no supercomputers of your own, but have 50 top class HPC experts who work with users on other supercomputers and also research future technologies - is that a supercomputer center?

If you have a very large HPC system but only the bare miuminm of HPC staff and no technology R&D efforts - is that a supercopmputer center?

Which of the last two adds more value to your users?

Declare or Earn?

Is it merely a matter of declaration - "we are a supercomputer center"? Or it is a matter of other supercomputer centers accepting you as a peer? But then who counts as other supercomputer centers to accept you? What if some do and some don't?

Is there a difference between a supercomputer center and a supercomputing center?

What do you think? And does your answer depend on whether you are a user, or work at a "traditional" supercomputer center, or a new type of supercomputing center, or a HPC vendor, or from outside the HPC field?

Friday 21 February 2020

Why cloud computing is like air travel

Some fun observations comparing the worlds of cloud computing and air travel ...

Why cloud computing is like air travel

  • The price depends on how far in advance you commit/buy.
  • The marketing focus on the desirability of the posher seats / more powerful VMs but on the costs of the cheapest seats / VMs.
  • Just like there are three main alliances (Oneworld, Star Alliance, SkyTeam) plus various independents airlines, there are three main cloud providers (Microsoft Azure, Google, Amazon) plus various specialist cloud providers.

Monday 13 January 2020

A step into the future: HPC and cloud

I am delighted to announce that at the start of February, I will be joining the Microsoft Azure HPC engineering & product team.

The HPC world has experienced several big changes in technology or business model over the last few decades. Cloud computing is probably the next big change facing HPC, on both business model and technology fronts.

I have been privileged to have earned a reputation with a wide range of HPC buyers and technology vendors as an impartial and knowledgeable voice on both the business and technical aspects of HPC (including cloud) over the last few years. A major trend that I observed was the pace at which I had to keep updating my independent assessment of the readiness and value of cloud. Today, on-premises HPC is still a great option to deliver impact and value to users. However, I have watched the amazing journey of cloud towards a genuine option delivering new or better value to HPC users and buyers.

In particular, I have been impressed with the approach taken by Microsoft Azure towards the HPC space. This includes strong technology and product offerings, a sector-leading people strategy, and much more. Of course, the journey towards leadership of cloud for HPC is still in progress and I am excited to help drive that adventure by joining the Azure HPC team.

More details of our vision, and my own role, will be shared over the coming days and months. Follow me on Twitter (@hpcnotes) and LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjones) to learn more.




Friday 10 January 2020

Over a decade of HPC consulting success at NAG

From small beginnings ...


It is almost 12 years since I joined NAG to build and lead the HPC consulting and services business. Over that time, we have built a consulting business from a tiny start to its current thriving status. We have helped a wide range of customers around the world of High-Performance Computing (HPC) and related areas such as cloud computing and machine learning by providing training and tutorials, multi-year professional services contracts, benchmarking services, focused consulting projects, impartial procurement expertise, strategic and technical advice, and more.

Protecting our customers' confidentiality and competitive advantages has been a strong theme of our success, which is why we have rarely been able to name our customers. We have helped many of the big oil & gas companies, plus several smaller ones, aerospace companies, manufacturing companies, automotive companies, public supercomputer centres, universities, government organisations, sports entities, HPC and cloud vendors, entertainment industry, and others.

The trusted position we have earned in the HPC community is arguably unique and will be difficult to replicate. There are very few other organisations worldwide who can genuinely offer the expertise, experience, impartiality and integrity that NAG delivered.

HPC requires expertise - technical and business


HPC, whether traditional simulation, or using on-premises supercomputers, or combined machine learning and simulation, or in the cloud, is hard. Creating a robust and compelling business case for investment is not easy. Reducing the risk of decisions in strategic direction, technology selection, staffing, software development, is not easy. Finding skilled HPC programmers is not easy. Delivering cost-effective and high-impact HPC services (rather than just standing up a machine) is not easy.

The current era of technology diversity in the HPC world is good for innovation and competitiveness. HPC buyers and users clearly benefit from this with better capabilities and pricing, but they must also manage the uncertainty and risk that the increased decision spaces create. Which CPU? On-premises vs cloud? Which cloud solution? Which system architecture? Which business model?

Over the last decade, we have helped customers and friends solve these challenges. The range of issues and number of customers impacted continue to grow.

I hope NAG has a bright future ahead with the new CEO, the healthy market opportunities, and the vision developing within the Executive Team. I expect NAG will continue to be a rare source of proven expertise in techncial computing.