westgrid.ca Canada’s HPC Research Future Jonathan Schaeffer Vice Provost and Associate Vice President (IT) University of Alberta On behalf of the WestGrid Executive Committee

Canada’s HPC Research Vision Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, 2010

HPC Milestones Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, : C3.ca created 1999: First CFI awards 2002: WestGrid 1 (Alberta and BC) 2005: C3.ca LRP for HPC; leads to National Platforms Fund (NPF-1) 2005: WestGrid 2 (Western Canada) 2006: NPF-1 application successful; Compute Canada formed 2010: NPF-2

Compute/Calcul Canada 61 institutions from across Canada o ACEnet (Atlantic Canada) o RQCHP and CLUMEQ (Quebec) o HPCVL, SciNet and SHARCNET (Ontario) o WestGrid (Western Canada) 4 Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, 2010

Over 1,100 PIs Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, Humanities Geoscience Fluid Dynamics COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE Security Proteomics

Enabling… Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, Researchers can now address scientific issues… o That are complex and difficult to solve o With more realism and less approximations o At levels of detail previously unattainable o With faster turnaround for the researcher to be productive and the research to be relevant o Using a technical support structure that increases research productivity Research is competitive and only those with major modern resources can answer today’s most important questions.

Success Creation of Compute Canada is a milestone Unprecedented HPC funding (for Canada) National collaboration at the Board, management, administrative and technical levels Facilities being used to do exciting research A sense of community is slowly building Canada’s Research Vision – March 4,

… and Discussions Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, Silo mentality still exists User fees issue has not been resolved Renovation costs are contentious Central administrative leadership Board representation is a sensitive issue National initiative but not national in spirit

NPF-2 Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, NPF-2 is coming soon Equipment in three of seven consortia is badly in need of a refresh Danger of losing technical support people WestGrid is in line for some funding Planning for the next CFI proposal under way

Storm Clouds Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, CFI has been quite blunt that: o CC is not as “national” as CFI would like o Too much money spent on renovations o Diluting money over multiple sites o Need to engage “non-traditional” disciplines NPF-2 will be an open competition o No favored status as in NPF-1

The Critical Issue Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, Currently fund 29 data centers across Canada o Everyone wants their “own” (shared) facility o Leads to expensive duplication o CFI insists this should change Asking WestGrid VP(R)s to lead the way by supporting change

Number of Data Centres Across Canada Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, One facility per major site? 29 One per province?10 One per consortium? 7 One per region? 4 One per country? 1 The WestGrid Executive agrees that consolidation of Data Centres is important. However, support from all institutions is key to ensuring the success of HPC in Canada.

Are you Willing To… Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, Let go of HPC facilities on your campus? Use resources elsewhere in the province? Use resources elsewhere in WestGrid? Use resources elsewhere in Canada?

14 Logistics Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, 2010 Money flowing to another institution, possibly in another province o CFI o Provincial o Institutional Loss of “stature” Don’t forget: these data centres are expensive to run (direct and indirect costs) Benefits of consolidation Less duplication => more resources for research Critical mass => larger research problems

15 Summary Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, 2010 NPF-2 is coming We must heed CFI’s warnings WestGrid-2 can show national leadership Which model do you support? What are the Universities’ expectations for WestGrid? Compute Canada?

Thank you! Canada Foundation for Innovation NSERC Provincial funding agencies CANARIE and the provincial networks Universities and research partners Canadian research community Canada’s Research Vision – March 4, 2010