II-NEW: Shelob - A Heterogeneous Computing Platform to Enable Transformation of Computational Research and Education in the State of Louisiana

Shelob项目是一项主要的努力，以支持使用配备图形处理单元或gpu的现代高性能计算系统的研究人员的计算科学研究、教育和培训需求。gpu几乎等同于用于游戏应用的个人电脑中的高端显卡。支持具有高度逼真的实时动画的游戏的相同功能可以用于极大地提高获得复杂科学问题答案的速度。然而，这是有代价的，因为编程变得更加困难，考虑到编程现代并行计算系统已经是一项困难的任务，这是一种负担。Shelob系统提供了一个专门的平台，允许在生产级系统上进行实验，允许制定新的方法，并提供一个可用于教学的平台，而不会中断其他研究生产系统的关键工作流程。Shelob系统是一个计算集群，它允许使用分布式内存方法进行并行编程，并为节点添加了合并GPU处理的能力。这种异构系统要求程序员既要理解传统的消息传递（即MPI）编程方法，又要理解特定于GPU编程的方法。研究人员确定如何混合这些方法以获得最佳性能的唯一方法是拥有系统级访问权限，以便根据需要修改和调整设置。人们对Shelob有着很高的期望，其中最重要的一点是让高中生和本科生对高性能计算工作和研究的可能性感到兴奋。本科生研究经历和贝奥武夫训练营等项目为学生提供了独特的机会。多机构研究小组，如Cactus和Pluto，希望开发更简单的方法来利用Shelob系统硬件所承诺的能力。其他团体，如路易斯安那州范围内的LA-SiGMA项目，希望开发下一代代码，以支持材料科学研究和工业应用新材料的开发。

Project Shelob is a major effort to support the computational science research, education and training requirements of investigators using modern high performance computing systems equipped with graphical processing units, or GPUs. GPUs are nearly identical to the high-end graphics cards found in personal computers dedicated to gaming applications. The same capabilities that support games with highly realistic real-time animations can be adapted to vastly improve the speed of getting answers on complex science problems. This comes at a cost, however, as the programming becomes more difficult, a burden considering that programming modern parallel computing systems is already a difficult task. The Shelob system provides a dedicated platform to allow experimenting on a production grade system, allowing new methods to be worked out, and providing a platform that can be used for teaching which does not interrupt the critical workflow on other research production systems.The Shelob system is a compute cluster that allows for parallel programming using distributed memory methods, and adds the ability for nodes to incorporate GPU processing. Such heterogeneous systems require programmers to understand both conventional message-passing (i.e. MPI) programming methods, and the methods specific to GPU programming. The only way researchers can determine how to mix the methods for best performance is to have system-level access to modify and adjust settings as necessary.There are high expectations for Shelob, not the least of which is instilling excitement in high school and undergraduate students over the possibilities presented for work and research in high performance computing. Programs such as Research Experiences for Undergraduates and the Beowulf Bootcamp, provide unique opportunities to students. Multi-institutional research groups, such as Cactus and Pluto, hope to develop easier ways to make use of the power promised by the Shelob system hardware. Other groups, such as the Louisiana-wide LA-SiGMA project, hope to develop the next generation of codes to support material science research and the development of novel materials for industrial applications.