MRI: Acquisition of SuperMIC -- A Heterogeneous Computing Environment to Enable Transformation of Computational Research and Education in the State of Louisiana

这是收购路易斯安那州立大学计算集群的奖项。该计算机是一个名为SuperMIC的异类HPC群集，包含Intel Xeon Phi和NVIDIA Kepler K20X GPU(图形处理单元)加速器。其目的是在推进依赖HPC的项目的同时，对此类集群的规划进行研究。这些努力的范围从模拟威胁沿海环境的条件和测试缓解技术；到模拟癌症患者由于呼吸动作而产生的肿瘤/器官的运动，以帮助放射治疗计划和管理。学习高度复杂的混合编程模型的负担带来了巨大的软件开发危机，需要更好的解决方案。SuperMIC将作为开发平台，通过结合GPU和Xeon Phi方法来扩展当前的编程框架，如仙人掌。这样的框架允许用户在不更改其应用程序的情况下无缝地从串行到多核再到分布式并行平台，同时还可以获得高性能。SuperMIC项目将包括所有级别的培训和教育，从针对高中生的Beowulf新兵训练营到路易斯安那州立大学为LONI(路易斯安那州光网络倡议)和LA-SIGMA(路易斯安那州模拟制导材料应用联盟)成员机构的学生举办的20多个年度LSU讲习班和计算科学远程学习课程。这些大学包括南方大学、泽维尔大学和格拉姆林州立大学--所有这些历史上都是黑人的学院和大学(HBCU)都有大量未被充分代表的少数民族学生。SuperMIC集群将用于LSU和LA-Sigma REU和RET计划。它将通过致力于NSF XSEDE计划和东南大学研究协会SURAGrid的资源来影响全国HPC社区。SuperMIC将向XSEDE XRAC分配委员会承诺40%的机器使用量。

This is an award to acquire a compute cluster at LSU. The computer is a heterogeneous HPC cluster named SuperMIC containing both Intel Xeon Phi and NVIDIA Kepler K20X GPU (graphics processing unit) accelerators. The intent is to conduct research on programming such clusters while advancing projects that are dependent on HPC. The efforts range from modeling conditions which threaten coastal environments and test mitigation techniques; to simulating the motions of tumors/organs in cancer patients due to respiratory actions to aid radiotherapy planning and management. The burden of learning highly complex hybrid programming models presents an enormous software development crisis and demands a better solution. SuperMIC will serve as the development platform to extend current programming frameworks, such as Cactus, by incorporating GPU and Xeon Phi methods. Such frameworks allow users to move seamlessly from serial to multi-core to distributed parallel platforms without changing their applications, and yet achieve high performance. The SuperMIC project will include training and education at all levels, from a Beowulf boot camp for high school students to more than 20 annual LSU workshops and computational sciences distance learning courses for students at LONI (Louisiana Optical Network Initiative) and LA-SiGMA (Louisiana Alliance for Simulation-Guided Materials Applications) member institutions. These include Southern University, Xavier University, and Grambling State University - all historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) which have large underrepresented minority enrollments. The SuperMIC cluster will be used in the LSU and LA-SiGMA REU and RET programs. It will impact the national HPC community through resources committed to the NSF XSEDE program and the Southeastern Universities Research Association SURAgrid. The SuperMIC will commit 40% of the usage of the machine to the XSEDE XRAC allocation committee.