1. Overview of the Texas Advanced Computing Center and International Partnerships Marcia Inger Assistant Director Development & External Relations April 26, 2006

2. TACC Mission To enhance research, development, and education and to improve society through the application of advanced computing technologies.

3. TACC Strategic Approach Resource & Services –Acquire & operate leading-edge advanced computing systems –Support world-class researchers with expert consulting, training, documentation Research & Development –Conduct R&D to produce new computational technologies –Collaborate with users to apply advanced computing techniques Education, Outreach, Public Relations –Educate the community to increase participation in advanced computing technology careers –Inform society about value of advanced computing technologies in improving knowledge and quality of life

4. TACC Resources are Terascale, Comprehensive and Balanced HPC systems to enable larger simulations analyses and faster turnaround times Grids of PCs and workstations to maximize throughput of distributed applications (parameter sweeps, etc.) Scientific visualization resources to enable large data analysis and knowledge discovery Data & information systems to store large datasets from simulations, analyses, digital collections, instruments, and sensors Distributed/grid computing servers & software to integrate all systems into computational grids Network equipment for high-bandwidth data movements and transfers between systems

5. TACC HPC & Storage Systems STK PowderHorns (2) 2.8 PB max capacity managed by Cray DMF IBM Power5 System 96 Power5 CPUs, 192 GB mem, ~1 teraflop Dell Xeon EM64T Linux Cluster 656 CPUs (4.2 Tflops) 1.3 TB memory, ~4 TB disk CHAMPION WRANGLER ARCHIVE UPGRADE in October 2006: at least 2000 dual-core CPUS, 3 TB memory, 40 Tflops LONESTAR Sun SANs and Data Direct Disk > 50TB GLOBAL DISK STAMPEDE Mac Xserve G5 Cluster 46 CPUs (368 Gflops) 52GB memory, 3.7TB disk

6. ACES VisLab Front and Rear Projection Systems –3x1 semi-cylinder immersive environment, 24’ diameter –5x2 large-screen, 16:9 panel tiled display –Matrix switch between systems, projectors, rooms Full immersive capabilities with head/motion tracking

7. TACC Network Connectivity High-bandwidth networking is crucial for grid computing: –UT Internet2 connection at OC-12 (655 Mbps) –TACC TeraGrid connection at 10 Gbps –Texas building new Lonestar Education And Research Network (LEARN) –Texas Joining National Lambda Rail (10 Gbps)

8. TACC Technology Collaborations

9. TACC Services TACC resources and services include: –Consulting –Training –Technical documentation –Data storage/archival –System selection/configuration consulting –System hosting (especially cluster nodes)

10. Ongoing Grid Projects in 2006 TeraGrid: US terascale cyberinfrastructure (Jay’s presentation) TIGRE: state of Texas Grid (Warren’s presentation) UT Grid: campus grid (Warren’s presentation) SURAgrid: regional grid (Warren’s presentation) GridPort, GridShell, GridChem: software tools to simplify and expand usage of cyberinfrastructure with powerful, easy-to-use interfaces

11. Other Key Projects in 2006 Scientific Computing academic classes (classroom, download): –Intro to Scientific/Technical Computing –Parallel Computing for Science & Engineering –Visualization & Data Analysis for Science & Engineering –Grid Computing for Science & Engineering HPC Libraries: increase efficiency of using HPC systems –GotoBLAS serial linear algebra kernels –New parallel linear algebra libraries soon Remote/Collaborative Visualization (Greg’s presentation) Data Collections Hosting & Analysis Services Science & Technology Affiliates for Research (STAR) Program

12. International Partnerships Scientific achievements are made worldwide Scientific progress comes from building on achievements, knowledge: sharing & collaboration –EGEE and EELA are great examples –Grids promote sharing and collaboration Obstacles to maximum awareness of achievements: –Geography & time zones –Languages and cultures Thus, extra effort required to share information, cooperate on international scales

13. International Partners Program TACC now positioned to create international partnerships that promote sharing, collaboration International Partners in Advanced Computing (IPAC) Program for advanced computing centers with: –Comprehensive interests (HPC, Vis, Grid, etc.) –Commitment to sharing information, technologies –Interest in collaboration in R&D, E&O Other international programs will be forthcoming for research groups, etc.

14. IPAC Activities Members will engage in… –Regular communication via email and online collaboration tools (intranet site, Access Grid, Wiki, etc.) –Organization of joint seminars and conferences –Allocation of resources for special intra-facility projects –Pursuit of academic and research opportunities through collaborative proposals –Publication of joint technical papers (in the scientific literature, in the TACC Technical Paper Series, and in similar series at partner institutions) –Production of a quarterly web publication highlighting research and collaboration in grid and distributed computing, scientific visualization, and other topics

15. IPAC Opportunities With this foundation: –Improved sharing of technologies –Collaborative R&D on projects –Sharing of educational content –Building of international grids projects –Etc.

16. Summary TACC focused on impact through leadership, collaboration –Leadership in software including GridPort, GridShell, remote visualization, linear algebra, etc. –partnership in grids at campus, state, regional, national, and international scales IPAC program goal is to enhance activities at advanced computing centers worldwide through: –Increased awareness –Information and technology sharing –Collaboration on R&D, E&O, etc. –Sharing of resources, grid projects, etc.

17. For More Information on TACC & IPAC Marcia Inger, Assistant Director Development & External Relations Texas Advanced Computing Center The University of Texas at Austin Email: minger@tacc.utexas.edu Phone: +1-512-471-4904