MRI: Acquisition of a 40-core Linux cluster for oceanographic research at Earth & Space Research

提供资金购买基于 Linux 的多处理器集群（“MPC”），以提高 ESR（地球与空间研究）的能力，为各种海洋学研究应用执行高度处理器密集型计算。 ESR 科学家目前使用联网的单处理器 PC 进行研究。这些设施远远落后于他们研究兴趣的需求。进入 MPC 将显着增强现有计划，并将开辟目前 ESR 无法进入的研究领域。拟议的 MPC 是一个 40 核（20 个双核 AMD Opteron 处理器）系统，每个节点布置 4 个处理器。系统规模由预算和基础设施（电力和空调）要求决定。 MPC 将由 ESR 拥有和运营，可供 ESR 科学家使用，并且在负载水平允许的情况下，也可供其他机构的项目合作者使用。拟议的系统将显着增强 ESR 科学家对热门研究的贡献，包括：潮汐对极地海洋的海洋混合和海冰特性的影响，以及南极冰架底部的冰/海洋相互作用； 。分析上层洋流的准全球高分辨率分布和每日时间尺度的混合，以及表面洋流的短期预报；和 。反气旋涡流在改变对流通风中的作用。 MPC 将通过允许扩展模型运行来更好地表示在现有单 CPU 计算机上需要极长运行时间的进程来协助这些研究。计算要求较高的任务包括：对陡峭地形区域的内潮和密度流出进行建模（其中精细的网格间距至关重要）；将潮汐与风力和温盐流的季节性和较长变化耦合（需要更长的积分时间）；明确表示海洋中的海冰和耦合的冰架/海洋模型（相对于仅海洋模型，CPU 需求增加 2-3 倍）；提高高纬度和准全球上层海洋研究的湍流闭合模型的复杂性。

Funds are provided to purchase a Multi-Processor, Linux-based Cluster ("MPC") to improve ESR's (Earth and Space Research) capacity to carry out highly processor-intensive computations for a variety of oceanographic research applications. ESR scientists presently conduct their research using networked, single-processor PCs. These facilities have fallen well behind the demands of their research interests. Access to the MPC would significantly enhance existing programs, and would open up research areas that are presently inaccessible to ESR. The proposed MPC is a 40-core (20 dual-core AMD Opteron processors) system arranged in 4 processors per node. The system scale is set by both budget and infrastructure (power and air conditioning) requirements. The MPC would be owned and operated by ESR and would be available to ESR scientists and, as load levels permit, to project collaborators at other institutions. The proposed system would significantly enhance the contribution of ESR scientists to studies of topical interest including: . tidal influence on ocean mixing and sea-ice properties in polar seas, and ice/ocean interactions at the base of Antarctic ice shelves; . analysis of the quasi-global and high-resolution distribution of upper ocean currents and mixing on daily timescales, and short-range forecast of the surface currents; and . the role of anticyclonic eddies in modifying convective ventilation. The MPC would assist in these studies by allowing expanded model runs to better represent processes that require extremely long run times on their existing single-CPU computers. Computationally demanding tasks include: modeling internal tides and density outflows in regions of steep topography (where fine grid spacing is essential); coupling tides to seasonal and longer changes in wind-forced and thermohaline flows (requiring longer integration times); explicitly representing sea ice in ocean and coupled ice-shelf/ocean models (a factor of 2-3 increase in CPU needs relative to ocean-only models); and increasing the sophistication of turbulence closure models for both high latitude and quasi-global upper-ocean studies.