1 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH The NERSC Center --From A DOE Program Manager’s Perspective-- A Presentation to the NERSC Users Group Walter M. Polansky Acting Program Manager for NERSC LBNL February 22, 2001

2 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Presentation Topics MICS NERSC Center Budgets The Greenbook Challenges/Opportunities

3 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Need for Information Technology R&D Vendors cannot meet requirements for high- performance computing because DOE science programs & require computing capabilities 10 to 100 times greater than typically available in commercial systems. & move hundreds to thousands of gigabytes of data between only a few locations.

4 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Many scientific questions important to DOE involve the integration of many scientific disciplines with characteristic lengths and times that range over many orders of magnitude (e.g. combustion). Computer simulation is the only practical way to study some systems (e.g. fusion plasma, climate, genome). Computer simulation can complement data and provide insight into the behavior of systems. High performance networks are critical to harness distributed resources for the analysis of experimental data (millions of gigabytes/year) and to support distributed simulations. High Performance Computers and Networks -- Importance to DOE Science --

5 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Applications, e.g. Materials Sciences Chemical Sciences Combustion Modeling Accelerator Science High Energy Physics Nuclear Physics Fusion Energy Global Climate …... Fundamental Research Underlying Technologies Hardware Software Networking R&D for Applications Scientific Computing ASCR Disciplinary Science and Engineering External to SC Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) Advanced Computing Research Facilities National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) Facilities Testbeds Access to Facilities Link Researchers Applied Mathematics Computer Science Advanced Computing Software Tools Scientific Application Pilots Networking Collaboratory Tools Collaboratory Pilots BES,BER,FES,HEP,NP Enabling Technology Centers Groups of mathematicians, computer scientists, application scientists, and software engineers INTEGRATED MICS is an INTEGRATED Program Research --> Users

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7 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center -- Goal -- To provide state of the art, high performance computing capability resources and professional user friendly services to a broadly based user community of computational scientists in support of the missions of the Office of Science.

8 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH NERSC-Enabled Research Accomplishments Magnetic materials Adaptive Mesh Refinement in Complex Geometries Accelerator design Stellerator optimization Predicting Protein Structure Microstructural Pattern Formation in Directional Solidification Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere System

9 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Advancing Computational Science of Scale- Producing Real Results

10 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Budget History - NERSC, ACRF and ESnet at LBNL-

11 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Greenbook objective- Make a compelling case, based on the science, for upgrading NERSC resources (hardware + services). – Quality of science enabled by current NERSC. – Existing and planned research opportunities unmet with present resources. Target Audience- Office of Science program managers. Other interested parties- OMB, OSTP, Congress, IG and GAO. Attributes- – Cognizance of plans and initiatives (e.g. Flagship-Topical Center concept, nanotechnology, SciDAC). – Good scientific and technical content; but readable by non- scientists. – An Executive Summary that (1) provides a concise overview of the document; (2) and coaxes the reader to continue. Thoughts on the Greenbook

12 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH The Greenbook- Foundation of a Strategy ObjectiveInstrumentLead Organization Establish scientific basisGreenbookNERSC Users Group Identify SC program needs ---SC Program Offices Propose resources needed to meet needs ---NERSC Prioritize high- performance computing needs Budget request; Approved Plans Office of Science

13 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Increase awareness of NERSC-enabled contributions to the Office of Science mission. Remain engaged in NERSC planning and operations. Share information and experiences with user groups at other computing centers. Identify recent major scientific accomplishments and researcher recognition directly influenced by NERSC. View NERSC as an SC resource and asset. Challenges/Opportunities

14 OFFICE OF ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH Personal Areas of Responsibility Program Manager for NERSC, Acting Program Manager for ACRFs, Acting Program Manager for Scientific Applications Pilot Projects, Acting Director, Technology Research Division - Laboratory Technology Research Program - SBIR and STTR Programs