ExCALIBUR Hardware and Enabling Software (H&ES) leadership

ExCALIBUR 硬件和支持软件 (H

• 批准号: ST/W004925/1
• 负责人: Simon McIntosh-Smith
• 金额: $ 11.65万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FW004925%2F1
• 关键词: ExCALIBUR; Hardware; Enabling; Software; H&ES

In 2018, the Exascale Computing ALgorithms & Infrastructures for the Benefit of UK Research (ExCALIBUR) programme was proposed by the Met Office, CCFE and EPSRC (on behalf of UKRI). The goal of ExCALIBUR is to redesign high priority computer codes and algorithms, keeping UK research and development at the forefront of high-performance simulation science. The challenge spans many disciplines and as such the programme of research will be delivered through a partnership between the Met Office and UKRI Research Councils. Research software engineers and scientists will work together to future proof the UK against the fast-moving changes in supercomputer designs. This combined scientific expertise will push the boundaries of science across a wide range of fields delivering transformational change at the cutting-edge of scientific supercomputing. As part of the ExCALIBUR initiative £4.5M in capital funding has been set aside to develop a 4.5 year foresighting programme, ExCALIBUR Hardware and Enabling Software, which is the subject of this proposal.The £4.5m capital is intended to provide a testbed area that uses pre-commercial equipment for software prototyping and development. It has two main purposes: (1) to enable the software community to be ready to use commercial products effectively as soon as they come on to the market; and (2) to provide the UKRI HPC community with the ability to influence industry and the necessary knowledge to guide their purchase decisions. This will ensure that facilities and the future UK National e-Infrastructure are in a position to maximise value for money by getting the most powerful systems exactly suited to the communities' needs. This double-pronged approach will give UK researchers a competitive advantage internationally.ExCALIBUR will now establish a set of modest-sized, adaptable clusters dedicated solely to this purpose and embedded within established HPC environments. Although small, they need to be of a scale capable of carrying out meaningful performance studies. They are expected to be co-funded with industry partners and will initially require investments of £200k-£300k each, and will allow a range of future hardware to be assessed for its relevance to the delivery of UKRI science and innovation. The pre-commercial equipment will be refreshed and added to on a regular, likely to be annual, basis. This agile tactic is designed to take advantage of the different approaches across industry.ExCALIBUR can use the hardware piloting systems to drive software innovation across the UKRI research community. Researchers are rightly reluctant to invest time in code development to take advantage of new hardware which may not be available at scale for several years or may even prove not to have longevity - scientific leadership demands that research funding is used to deliver science results now. In addition and DiRAC and others will offer funded RSE effort to support the development work combined with access to novel technologies within modest-sized systems, ExCALIBUR can lower the bar for engaging with the process of software re-engineering and encourage researchers to make the necessary (modest) investments of their time. In some cases, there may also be the potential for some immediate science outputs by exploiting the proof-of-concept systems.ExCALIBUR will thus be able to provide an incentive for greater software innovation across the UKRI research communities and help to ensure that when novel technology is included in national services, there are workflows that are already able to exploit it optimally. This will increase productivity across all UKRI computing services and enable UK researchers to use the latest hardware to deliver the largest and most complex calculations, ensuring international leadership.

2018年，英国气象局、CCFE和EPSRC（代表UKRI）提出了“有利于英国研究的百亿亿次计算算法和基础设施”（ExCALIBUR）计划。ExCALIBUR的目标是重新设计高优先级的计算机代码和算法，使英国的研究和开发处于高性能仿真科学的前沿。这项挑战涉及许多学科，因此，该研究项目将通过英国气象局（Met Office）和英国科学院研究委员会（UKRI research Councils）之间的合作来提供。研究软件工程师和科学家将共同努力，以证明英国未来应对超级计算机设计的快速变化。这种结合的科学专业知识将在广泛的领域推动科学的界限，在科学超级计算的前沿带来革命性的变化。作为ExCALIBUR计划的一部分，已拨出450万英镑的资本资金，用于开发一项为期4.5年的前瞻性计划，即ExCALIBUR硬件和支持软件，这是本提案的主题。这笔450万英镑的资金旨在提供一个试验台，使用预商用设备进行软件原型设计和开发。它有两个主要目的：(1)使软件社区能够在商业产品进入市场时就有效地使用它们；(2)为UKRI HPC社区提供影响行业的能力和必要的知识，以指导他们的购买决策。这将确保设施和未来的英国国家电子基础设施能够通过获得完全适合社区需求的最强大的系统来实现资金价值最大化。这种双管齐下的方法将使英国研究人员在国际上具有竞争优势。ExCALIBUR现在将建立一套专门用于此目的的中等规模、适应性强的集群，并嵌入到已建立的HPC环境中。虽然规模很小，但它们必须具有能够进行有意义的业绩研究的规模。它们预计将与行业合作伙伴共同资助，最初将需要每个投资20万至30万英镑，并将允许对一系列未来硬件进行评估，以评估其与UKRI科学和创新交付的相关性。预商用设备将定期更新和增加，可能是每年一次。这种敏捷策略的目的是利用跨行业的不同方法。ExCALIBUR可以使用硬件试点系统来推动整个UKRI研究社区的软件创新。研究人员不愿意在代码开发上投入时间来利用新硬件，这是正确的，因为这些硬件可能在几年内无法大规模使用，或者甚至可能被证明寿命不长——科学领导要求现在就把研究资金用于交付科学成果。此外，DiRAC和其他公司将提供资助的RSE工作，以支持在中等规模的系统中使用新技术的开发工作，ExCALIBUR可以降低参与软件再工程过程的门槛，并鼓励研究人员进行必要的（适度的）时间投资。在某些情况下，利用概念验证系统也可能产生一些直接的科学产出。因此，ExCALIBUR将能够为整个UKRI研究社区提供更大的软件创新激励，并有助于确保当新技术被纳入国家服务时，已经有能够最佳利用它的工作流程。这将提高所有UKRI计算服务的生产力，并使英国研究人员能够使用最新的硬件来提供最大和最复杂的计算，确保国际领先地位。