Essential Analogies for the HPC Advocate

This is an update of a two-part article I wrote for HPC Wire in 2013: Part 1 and Part 2.

An important ability for anyone involved in High Performance Computing (HPC or supercomputing or big data processing, etc.) is to be able to explain just what HPC is to others.

"Others” include politicians, Joe Public, graduates possibly interested in HPC, industry managers trying to see how HPC fits into their IT or R&D programs, or family asking for the umpteenth time “what exactly do you do?”

One of the easiest ways to explain HPC is to use analogies that relate the concepts to things that the listener is more familiar with. So here is a run-through of some useful analogies for explaining HPC or one of its concepts:

• The simple yet powerful: A spade
• The moral high ground: A science/engineering instrument
• Duh! Clue’s in the name: Big computer
• The testosterone favorite: Formula 1
• The TARDIS factor: Time Machine
• Not special, just normal: Library
• Imagine a silly task: Aircraft vs. Car
• Monuments: Ecosystems
• The HPC Hotel

The simple yet powerful: A spade

Need to dig a hole? Use the right tool for the job – a spade. Need to dig a bigger hole, or a hole through tougher material like concrete? Use a more powerful tool – a mechanical digger.

Now instead of digging a hole, consider modeling and simulation. If the model/simulation is too big or too complex – use the more powerful tool: i.e. HPC. It’s nice and simple – HPC is a more powerful tool that can tackle more complex or bigger models/simulations than ordinary computers.

There are some great derived analogies too. You should be able to give a spade to almost anyone and they should be able to dig a hole without too much further instruction. But, hand a novice the keys to a mechanical digger, and it is unlikely they will be able to effectively operate the machine without either training or a lot of on the job learning. Likewise, HPC requires training to be able to use the more powerful tool effectively. Buying mechanical diggers is also requires expertise that buying a spade doesn’t. And so on.

It neatly focuses on the purpose and benefit of HPC rather than the technology itself. If you’ve heard any of my talks recently you will know this is an HPC analogy that I use myself frequently.

The moral high ground: A science/engineering instrument

I’ve occasionally accused the HPC community of being riddled with hypocrites – we make a show of “the science is what matters” and then proceed to focus the rest of the discussion on the hardware (and, if feeling pious or guilty, we mention “but software really matters”).

However, there is a critical truth to this – the scientific (or engineering) capability is what matters when considering HPC. I regularly use this perspective, often very firmly, myself: a supercomputer is NOT a computer – it is a major scientific instrument that just happens to be built using computer technology. Just because it is built from most of the same components as commodity servers does not mean that modes of usage, operating skills, user expectations, etc. should be the same. This helps to put HPC into the right context in the listeners mind – compare it to a major telescope, a wind tunnel, or even LHC@CERN.

The derived analogies are effective too – expertise in the technology itself is required, not just the science using the instrument. Sure, the skills overlap but they are distinct and equally important.

This analogy focuses on the purpose and benefit of HPC, but also includes a reference to it being based on a big computer.

Secrets of the Supercomputers

These are revelations from inside the strange world of supercomputing centers. Nobody is pretending these are real stories. They couldn’t possibly be. Could they?

On one of my many long haul airplane plane journeys this year, I caught myself thinking about the strange things that go on inside supercomputer centers - and other parts of the HPC world. I thought it might be fun to poke at and mock such activities while trying to make some serious points.

Since the flight was a long one, I started writing ... and so "Secrets of the Supercomputers" was born.

You can find Episode 1 at HPC Wire today, touching on the topic of HPC procurement.

No offense to anyone intended. Gentle mocking maybe. Serious lessons definitely.

Take a look here for some serious comments on HPC procurement at the NAG blog.

Silence ...

Really, October 2013? That long since I wrote a blog? Not even anything for SC13? Oops. Still, busy is good. Be nice to get some more blog posts again though. Maybe a preview of ISC14 in the next few days ...

Essential guide to HPC on twitter

Please read the updated version of this post at:
https://www.hpcnotes.com/p/hpc-on-twitter.html

(Original kept here for reference)

Who are the best HPC people on twitter?

A good question posed by Suhaib Khan (@suhaibkhan) - which he made tougher by saying "pick your top 5". A short debate followed on twitter but I thought the content was useful enough to record in a blog post for community reference. I also strongly urge anyone to provide further input to this topic and I'll update this post.

Some rules (mine not Suhaib's):

1. What are the minimum set of accounts you can follow and still expect to catch most of the HPC news, gossip, opinion pieces, analysis and key technical content?
2. How to avoid too much marketing?
3. How to access comment and debate beyond the news headlines?
4. Which HPC people are not only active but also interactive on twitter?

I cheated a little on the "top 5" by suggesting 4 themes:

Supercomputing - the reality behind the vision

My opinion piece "Supercomputing - the reality behind the vision" was published today in Scientific Computing World, where I:

• liken a supercomputer to a "pile of silicon, copper, optical fibre, pipework, and other heavy hardware [...] an imposing monument that politicians can cut ribbons in front of";
• describe system architecture as "the art of balancing the desires of capacity, performance and resilience against the frustrations of power, cooling, dollars, space, and so on";
• introduce software as magic and infrastructure and a virtual knowledge engine;
• and note that "delivering science insight or engineering results from [supercomputing] requires users";
• and propose that we need a roadmap for people just as much as for the hardware technology.

Read the full article here: http://www.scientific-computing.com/news/news_story.php?news_id=2270.

All software needs to be parallel

I often use this slide to show why all software has to be aware of parallel processing now.

In short, if your software does not exploit parallel processing techniques, then your code is limited to less than 2% of the potential performance of the processor. And this is just for a single processor - it is even more critical if the code has to run on a cluster or a supercomputer.

Name that supercomputer (Quiz)

Instead of a sensible HPC blog post, how about some fun? Can you name these supercomputers?

I'm looking for actual machine names (e.g. 'Sequoia') and the host site (e.g. LLNL). Bonus points for the funding agency (e.g. DOE NNSA) and the machine type (e.g. IBM BlueGene/Q).

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

For the photos, if you are stuck, you might need to use clues from my twitter stream as to where I have been recently.

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

1. Which supercomputer are we looking underneath?
   


2. Acceptance of this leading system became a HPC news topic recently


3. NAG provides the Computational Science & Engineering Support Service for this one


4. One letter is all that’s needed to describe this supercomputer


5. Racing cattle powered by Greek letters


6. Spock was one of these


7. Which supercomputer does this photo show the inner rows of?
   


8. Memory with a deerstalker & pipe


9. Put an end to Ming (or did he)?


10. This plant/leaf is normally silver when used as the national symbol of this one’s host country

Predictions for 2013 in HPC

As we stumble into the first weeks of 2013, it is the season for predictions about what the coming year will bring. In my case, following my recent review of HPC in 2012, I get to make some predictions for the world of HPC in 2013.


Buzzwords

First up, this year’s buzzword for HPC marketing and technology talks. Last year was very much the year of “Big Data” as a buzzword. As that starts to become old hat (and real work) a new buzzword will be required. Cynical? My prediction is that this year will see Big Data still present in HPC discussions and real usage but it will diminish in use as a buzzword. 2013 will probably spawn two buzzwords.

The first buzzword will be “energy-efficient computing”. We saw the use of this a little last year but I think it will become the dominant buzzword this year. Most technical talks will include some reference to energy-efficient computing (or the energy cost of the solution or etc.). All marketing departments will swing into action to brand their HPC products and services as energy efficient computing – much as they did with Big Data and before that, Cloud Computing, and so on. Yes, I’m being a tad cynical about the whole thing. I’m not suggesting that energy efficiency is not important – in fact it is essential to meet our ambitions in HPC. I’m merely noting its impending over-use as a theme. And of course, energy efficient computing is not the same as Green Computing – after all that buzzword is several years old now.

Energy efficiency will be driven by the need to find lower power solutions for exascale-era supercomputers (not just exascale systems but the small department petascale systems that will be expected at that time – not to mention consumer scale devices). It is worth noting that optimizing for power and energy may not be the same thing. The technology will also drive the debate – especially the anticipated contest between GPUs and Xeon Phi. And politically, energy efficient computing sounds better for attracting investment rather than “HPC technology research”.

A review of 2012 in supercomputing - Part 2

This is Part 2 of my review of the year 2012 in supercomputing and related matters.

In Part 1 of the review I re-visited the predictions I made at the start of 2012 and considered how they became real or not over the course of the year. This included cloud computing, Big Data (mandatory capitalization!), GPU, MIC, and ARM - and software innovation. You can find Part 1 here: http://www.hpcnotes.com/2012/12/a-review-of-2012-in-supercomputing-part.html.

Part 2 of the review looks at the themes and events that emerged during the year. As in Part 1, this is all thoroughly biased, of course, towards things that interested me throughout the year.

The themes that stick out in my mind from HPC/supercomputing in 2012 are:

• The exascale race stalls
• Petaflops become "ordinary"
• HPC seeks to engage a broader user community
• Assault on the Top500

The exascale race stalls

The global race towards exascale supercomputing has been a feature of the last few years. I chipped in myself at the start of 2012 with a debate on the "co-design" mantra.

Confidently tracking the Top500 trend lines, the HPC community had pinned 2018 as the inevitable arrival date of the first supercomputer with a peak performance in excess of 1 exaflops. [Note the limiting definition of the target - loosely coupled computing complexes with aggregate capacity greater than exascale will probably turn up before the HPC machines - and peak performance in FLOPS is the metric here - not application performance or any assumptions of balanced systems.]

Some more cautious folk hedged a delay into their arrival dates and talked about 2020. However, it became apparent throughout 2012 that the US government did not have the appetite (or political support) to commit to being the first to deploy an exascale supercomputer. Other regions of the world have - like the USA government - stated their ambitions to be among the leaders in exascale computing. But no government has yet stood up and committed to a timetable nor to being the first to get there. Critically, neither has anyone committed the required R&D funding needed now to develop the technologies [hardware and software] that will make exascale supercomputing viable.

The consensus at the end of 2012 seems to be towards a date of 2022 for the first exascale supercomputer - and there is no real consensus on which country will win the race to have the first exascale computer.

Perhaps we need to re-visit our communication of the benefits of more powerful supercomputers to the wider economy and society (what is the point of supercomputers?). Communicating the value to society and describing the long term investment requirements is always a fundamental need of any specialist technology but it becomes crucially essential during the testing fiscal conditions (and thus political pressures) that governments face right now.

A review of 2012 in supercomputing - Part 1

It's that time of year when doing a review of the last twelve months seems like a good idea for a blog topic. (To be followed soon after by a blog of predictions for the next year.)
So, here goes - my review of the year 2012 in supercomputing and related matters. Thoroughly biased, of course, towards things that interested me throughout the year.


Predictions for 2012

Towards the end of 2011 and in early 2012 I made various predictions about HPC in 2012. Here are the ones I can find or recall:

• The use of "cloud computing" as the preferred marketing buzzword used for large swathes of the HPC product space would come to an end.
• There would be an onslaught of "Big Data" (note the compulsory capital letters) as the marketing buzzword of choice for 2012 - to be applied to as many HPC products as possible - even if only a tenuous relevance (just like cloud computing before it - and green computing before that - and so on ...)
• There would be a vigorous ongoing debate over the relative merits and likely success of GPUs (especially from NVidia) vs. Intel's MIC (now called Xeon Phi).
• ARM would become a common part of the architecture debate alongside x86 and accelerators.
• There would be a growth in the recognition that software and people matter just as much as the hardware.

The making of “1000x” – unbalanced supercomputing

I have posted a new article on the NAG blog: The making of "1000x" – unbalanced supercomputing.

This goes behind my article in HPCwire ("Chasing1000x: The future of supercomputing is unbalanced"), where I explain the pun in the title and dip into some of the technology issues affecting the next 1000x in performance.

What is the point of supercomputers?

Maybe it seems an odd question to ask on a blog dedicated to High Performance Computing (HPC). But it is good to question why we do things – hopefully leading us to a clearer justification for investing money, time and effort. Ideally, this would also enable better delivery – the “how” supporting the “why” – focusing on the best processes, technologies, etc. to achieve the goals identified in the justification.

So, again, why supercomputing? Perhaps you think the answer is obvious – supercomputing enables modelling and simulation to be done faster than with normal computers, or enables bigger problems to be solved.

Supercomputers are for dreams

I was invited to the 2012 NCSA Annual Private Sector Program (PSP) meeting in May. In my few years of attending, this has always been a great meeting (attendance by invitation only), with an unusually high concentration of real HPC users and managers from industry.

NCSA have recently released streaming video recordings of the main sessions - the videos can be found  as links on the Annual PSP Meeting agenda page.

Bill Gropp chaired a panel session on "Modern Software Implementation" with myself and Gerry Labedz as panellists.

The full video (~1 hour) is here but I have also prepared a breakdown of the panel discussion in this blog post below.

Looking ahead to ISC'12

I have posted my preview of ISC'12 Hamburg - the summer's big international conference for the world of supercomputing over on the NAG blog. I will be attending ISC'12, along with several of my NAG colleagues. My blog post discusses these five key topics:

• GPU vs MIC vs Other
• What is happening with Exascale?
• Top 500, Top 10,
• Tens of PetaFLOPS
• Finding the advantage in software
• Big Data and HPC 

Read more on the NAG blog ...

Cloud computing or HPC? Finding trends.

I posted "Cloud computing or HPC? Finding trends." on the NAG blog today. Some extracts ...

Enable innovation and efficiency in product design and manufacture by using more powerful simulations. Apply more complex models to better understand and predict the behaviour of the world around us. Process datasets faster and with more advance analyses to extract more reliable and previously hidden insights and opportunities.

... and ...

High performance computing (HPC), supercomputing, computational science and engineering, technical computing, advanced computer modelling, advanced research computing, etc. The range of names/labels and the diversity of the audience involved mean that what is a common everyday term for many (e.g. HPC) is an unrecognised meaningless acronym to others - even though they are doing "HPC".

... and then I use some Google Trends plots to explore some ideas ...

Read the full article ...

My SC11 diary index

Here is a handy index to the ten entries in my diary of the weeks leading up to SC11.

1. "The big HPC event of the year - lots of news, people & meetings. Busy week."
2. "schedule certainty, locations, spare time & hard work"
3. "SC11 news deluge, the missing HPC world"
4. "how do you do it?"
5. "navigation, rope and choosing wisely"
6. "fog and sports events"
7. "not everyone will be in Seattle"
8. "ppt, professionals, preparation & precipitation"
9. "printing, SC12, hopping and mischief"
10. "the final word"

Enjoy.

My SC11 diary 10

It seems I have been blogging about SC11 for a long time - but it has only been two weeks since the first SC11 diary post, and this is only the 10th SC11 diary entry. However, this will also be the final SC11 diary blog post.

I will write again before SC11 in HPC Wire (to be published around or just before the start of SC11).

And, then maybe a SC11 related blog post after SC11 has all finished.

So, what thoughts for the final pre-SC11 diary then? I'm sure you have noticed that the pre-show press coverage has started in volume now. Perhaps my preview of the SC11 battleground, what to look out for, what might emerge, ...

My SC11 diary 9

I mentioned yesterday about preparation for SC11. I thought today I'd add a few miscellaneous tips I've gathered over the years. In no sensible order or grouping ...

My SC11 diary 8

It turns out I have to actually do some talking at SC11 as well as listen to others. So one of today's jobs was to start preparing some presentations I will be giving at SC11. My normal habit is to have a custom version of a slide set for each audience/customer. I try to avoid simply re-using the same slide deck for each talk. Obviously I do re-use large chunks of previous presentations but update it, or add/remove content to get the right focus.

My SC11 diary 7

As a cursory glance at #SC11 on twitter today will tell you, it is now only two weeks until SC11 (or less if you count the parts of the show that start over the weekend).

So perhaps this is a good time to consider the many supercomputing people who won't be joining the hordes in Seattle this year.