Simulation as a Service: A Cloud-Based Framework to Support the Educational Use of Scientific Software Tom Bitterman, Da Cai, Dave Hudak, Rajiv Ramnath, Jay Ramanathan, Belinda Zhang Larger companies can afforrd…eg GM Crash Testing In operation for 6 mths Courses are currently being offered through the Polymer Portal, providing invaluable user feedback. Access methods have varied, as users have employed both on-site classes and remote learning experiences through the portal. User feedback has been instructive - we have received positive feedback on the way the Moodle site and the simulation software combine to support instruction, but many users were unclear about whether software purchased as part of a training opportunity would continue to work after the class was over. This is only the initial version of the Polymer Portal and growing pains were expected. An important component of deployment has been the ability to gather user feedback and incorporate it into future versions. 1

Introduction Simulation as a Service Polymer Portal Overview Polymer Portal Requirements and Challenges Polymer Portal Architecture and Implementation Evaluation and Conclusions

Simulation as a Service Simulation software is expensive to purchase difficult to install and maintain complicated to run Potential users need to train on the software before purchase to be able to buy just as much as they need Offering simulation software as a service is a good fit Many industrial processes are amenable to simulation. Simulating these processes allows for optimization of time, cost, energy, quality and other process parameters. Simulation software is very expensive and hard to use. Even the hardware required to run it is beyond the reach of most small- and medium-sized companies. Many potential users cannot justify paying such a high up-front cost for such an uncertain payoff. It would be nice if they could learn how to use the software before they bought it, so a better judgement could be made about its worth. High cost can also be a barrier once the software is mastered. Companies can often go long stretches between needing to use such software, time in which the money paid for the software is wasted. They could cut costs by just “renting” the software when they need it. The upside of all this trouble is that proper use of a simulation can yield substantial benefits.

Users and Uses Academic Use Industrial Use Training Courses Seminars Simulation Class Project Research Product Development Testing We were required to support both academic and industrial users There were both similarities and differences in how each group wanted to use the system Academic and industrial users had a lot in common. We will talk about their overlapping requirements next. The primary difference was in the scale of problems each wanted to address. We will talk about that when we get to the cloud portion.

Common Requirements Support for a variety of packages Remote access Ease of use Ability to handle large-scale simulations Secure Reasonable cost Our target audience consists of both academics and industrial users, but they have common ground in that they are subject matter experts (e.g. polymer scientists, materials scientists) and not computer experts. They needed a system that was simple to use, but gave them access to a wide variety of software. This meant that more “powerful”, flexible options were discarded in favor of interface and functional elements that would be familiar to the casual computer user.

Solution Features E-Catalog - provided Single sign-on - enabled User-friendly interface metaphor Collaboration (forums, wikis) Educational and training resources Access to purchased services E-commerce capability Single sign-on - enabled simplified user experience single point of entrance Users are familiar with a catalog model (e.g. Amazon.com) so it was used as the overarching interface metaphor. Users could approach the site from a site point of entry, browse through available software packages and purchase them. The big difference was that users could also use portal to actually use the software/training that they had purchased (sort of like a Kindle). Single sign-on tied otherwise disparate subsystems together into a cohesive whole that would make sense to the user. Once the user was signed-in, they could use any part of the portal that they were authorized to without re-authenticating.

Solution Features (contd.) Cloud environment – support for heterogeneous environments (Windows, Linux) scaling to large problems uneven load schedules wide variety of software interface to HPC environment A cloud allowed OSC, a typical HPC environment running Linux on a cluster in batch mode, to support a wide variety of operating systems (all the different versions of Windows, the Linux and Unix variants) without disrupting normal operations. It became possible for us to support one user running a simulation on Linux-based software while another ran a Windows-based visualization program at the same time. In addition, we could easily accommodate transient spikes in usage (such as a large class) without letting valuable resources stand idle during periods of low use.

Architecture E-Catalog OSC cloud services Own web content Drupal, Moodle External account OSC cloud services Data transfer SSH and VNC to HPC RDP to Windows Common storage Common authentication Common accounting Users can log in through Polymer Portal home page, and we use Windows Active Directory to implement user authentication and product authorization. There is a service list (Tools Inventory) which includes available simulation services for polymer users. Moodle is a web-based learning solution that enables on-line learning. VNC – virtual network computing.

Polymer Portal Application Services Provides polymer companies with software and training for modeling and simulation https://polymerportal.osc.edu/ Established with Polymer Ohio as part of the NIST MEP grant Takes advantage of educational materials created under an NSF grant Application Services Windows GUI applications: Moldex 3D, Ludovic, Avercast Web applications: PFAST, Polymer Properties Predictor We implemented the above-described system for the polymer field. The polymer industry is predominately composed of small- and medium- sized businesses that currently rely on hard-earned expertise to design their products and manufacturing processes. There is great potential in offering affordable, accessible simulation services to this audience. We worked in conjunction with Polymer Ohio, an Ohio-based industry consortium, to develop the site.

Results We have offered training courses they have been well attended user feedback has been positive support for both industrial and academic users Industrial use is just beginning Currently expanding software offerings We have working software and people like it. Industry take-up has been slow, but Polymer Ohio is currently advertising the service to its members. We hope to expand our base by offering more, different applications.

Application Service Case Study: PFAST Production Flow Analysis and Simulation Tool Dr. Irani, Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering, OSU Industrial Engineering design of manufacturing cells and facility layout design Original application: Microsoft Visual C++ OSC services provides Web-based user interface E-catalog access Secure access for multiple users Optional slide – if we want to talk about an example application that we offer.