applications


Everybody dreams of faster applications, but …


Andrew Jones explores the barriers and


solutions to accelerating application performance


find a user of modelling/simulation who doesn’t wish their application could run faster, or solve a bigger problem in a feasible timescale. Solve that stress calculation in hours


W


instead of days. Model a race track at 1cm instead of 10cm resolution. Follow the dynamics of 100,000 molecules instead of 10,000. Simulate the performance of an entire wind farm rather than just a single turbine. Find one face in a million not just one face in a thousand. Test 10,000 formulation candidates rather than merely 100. Well dreamers, be happy, for the good


news is that this is possible to achieve. Tere are two ways to get applications running faster or on bigger problems: either run the application on a more powerful computer, or make the application run more efficiently on the same hardware.


SIMULATE THE


PERFORMANCE OF AN ENTIRE WIND FARM RATHER THAN JUST A SINGLE TURBINE. FIND ONE FACE IN A MILLION NOT JUST ONE FACE IN A THOUSAND. TEST 10,000 FORMULATION CANDIDATES RATHER THAN MERELY 100


28 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD @scwmagazine l www.scientific-computing.com


hichever application we consider, whichever science area, in both private and public sector – it is rare to


Well, alright,


you’ve got me – there might be one or two catches. But, the prize – much better science/engineering throughput and capability – is worth braving a few catches. So let’s explore. While we’re admitting it might not be so


simple, this is a good place to note that some variation of ‘lack of access to knowledge/ skills’ or ‘don’t know where to start’ regularly shows up in user surveys and analyst studies as one of the top barriers to undertaking projects to get better application performance. So, as well as discussing the challenges here, I will also present some solutions to that ‘skills barrier’. Running on a more powerful computer means ➤


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