HPC 2017-18 | High-performance computing


this level of performance requires systems at a scale that has never been seen before and that requires complex innovation of both hardware and soſtware. All of this must be achieved within a given power limit of approximately 20 to 30 megawatts, which makes this all the more difficult as such a system would far exceed the efficiency of the most powerful supercomputers today. Tere are several ways of approaching these


challenges but with the scale of the problem increasing for each generation of computing development, most groups are choosing to tackle the challenge by creating their own computing ecosystem. Tis allows them to pool resources, investment and expertise with partners that can help to develop the launch pad for exascale computing. Examples of this can be seen across several


regions. Chinese HPC experts have opted for a somewhat home-grown approach but this still includes several component manufacturers, HPC centres, and organisations working together to


We hope to contribute to things beyond the delivery of just a couple of exascale systems in the United States


create the necessary hardware and soſtware to compete with other regions. Te American model of subsidising HPC


development through investment in large supercomputing contracts from the DOE and other federal organisations is well understood but even this is taxed by the challenges of achieving exascale computing by the proposed date from the DOE of 2021. Te US has developed what it calls the


The exascale challenge Te pursuit of exascale is important for more than just the headlines and international bragging rights and accolades that come with hitting this milestone. Exascale promises to unlock the new level of computational performance that will provide the horsepower for future scientific discoveries not possible today. Exascale class supercomputers will allow


scientists and engineers to investigate problems at new levels of granularity and accuracy and will enable scientific breakthroughs. However, reaching exascale is no easy task.


While flops is no realistic measure of exascale computing performance, the most basic milestone for an exascale class supercomputer would be a billion billion calculations per second. To reach


Exascale Computing Project, a collaborative effort of two US Department of Energy organisations – the Office of Science (DOE-SC) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). ‘Te Exascale Computing Project offers a rare


opportunity to advance all elements of the HPC ecosystem in unison. Co-design and integration of hardware, soſtware, and applications, a strategic imperative of the ECP, is essential to deploying exascale class systems that will meet the future requirements of the scientific communities these systems will serve,’ said Paul Messina, former ECP director and senior strategic advisor at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF). Messina commented that, alongside the


two DOE organisations, there are also six vendor partners working on various aspects of the computing architecture as part of the


PathForward exascale initiative: IBM, Nvidia, Intel, Cray, HP and AMD. He also noted that there are 22 institutions and 39 universities currently involved with some aspect of the research and development. Tere are many moving parts for such a


collaboration that uses co-design, but Messina stressed that there is more to this project than just reaching the exascale milestone. He hopes this work will leave a lasting legacy that provides benefits beyond just the use of the DOE exascale systems. ‘I envision that some of the results might not pay off in 2020-2021, but it might in 2022 or 2024. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer but we hope to contribute to things beyond the delivery of just a couple of exascale systems in the United States,’ said Messina. He explained that the idea for meaningful


collaboration extends across the entire project. One example off this is an industry council that has been setup with 18 commercial companies, of which 15 are end-user companies such as GM, GE, United technologies and FedEx. ‘We established that industry council to make


sure that we understand their needs. Tey all feel that they will eventually need exascale computing. We are working with them to understand their needs, what is realistic for them to do, and we will create a soſtware stack that will meet their requirements. Tis is a constant theme throughout the DOE


ECP project. Tey do not just want to reach the milestone of exascale computing but develop the building blocks for other users and to develop meaningful application performance.


European plans Te Europeans have opted for a similar co-design approach banding several commercial entities and organisations together for a co-design approach. European plans for exascale are funded through the European Union, which has set out significant investment in IT infrastructure through the European Commission’s FP7 programme – part of the Horizon 2020 initiative. Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever, with nearly €80 billion of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020). Te EuroEXA project is funded through this


Horizon2020 programme and builds on previous European high-performance computing projects and partnerships, bringing together the focus of European industrial SMEs. Originally the informal name for a group of H2020 research projects ExaNeSt, EcoScale and ExaNoDe, EuroEXA hopes to coalesce all of these research projects into a single coherent exascale project. Te project is opting for co-design using a number of European developed technologies


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