ExCALIBUR Hardware and Enabling Software (H&ES) leadership

2018年，英国气象局、CCFE和EPSRC(代表UKRI)提出了亿级计算算法和基础设施造福英国研究(Excalbur)计划。埃克斯卡利伯的目标是重新设计高优先级的计算机代码和算法，使英国的研发处于高性能模拟科学的前沿。这一挑战跨越许多学科，因此，研究方案将通过英国气象局和英国皇家学会研究理事会之间的伙伴关系来实施。研究软件工程师和科学家将共同努力，在未来证明英国不受超级计算机设计快速变化的影响。这种结合的科学专业知识将推动科学的边界跨越广泛的领域，在科学超级计算的前沿带来变革性的变化。作为埃克斯卡利伯计划的一部分，已拨出450万GB的资本资金，用于开发一项4.5年的前瞻性计划--埃克斯卡利伯硬件和使能软件，这是该计划的主题。450万GB的资本旨在提供一个试验区，使用商业前设备进行软件原型和开发。它有两个主要目的：(1)使软件社区准备好在商业产品上市后立即有效地使用它们；(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定。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最大性价比。这种双管齐下的方法将使英国研究人员在国际上获得竞争优势。ExCALIBUR现在将建立一套专门用于这一目的的中等规模、适应性强的集群，并嵌入到现有的HPC环境中。虽然规模很小，但它们的规模必须能够进行有意义的绩效研究。它们预计将与行业合作伙伴共同出资，最初将需要每个200k-300k GB的投资，并将允许对一系列未来硬件进行评估，以确定其与UKRI科学和创新交付的相关性。商用前设备将定期更新和增加，可能是每年一次。这一灵活的策略旨在利用整个行业的不同方法。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。研究人员理所当然地不愿在代码开发上投入时间，以利用新硬件，这些新硬件可能在几年内无法规模化提供，甚至可能被证明不具有持久性--科学领导层要求现在将研究资金用于交付科学成果。此外，DiRAC和其他机构将提供资金支持RSE工作，以支持开发工作，并在中等规模的系统中获得新技术，ExCalibur可以降低参与软件再工程过程的门槛，并鼓励研究人员做出必要的(适度的)投资。在某些情况下，还可能通过利用概念验证系统来立即产生一些科学成果。因此，ExCALIBUR将能够激励整个UKRI研究界进行更大的软件创新，并帮助确保当新技术被纳入国家服务时，已经能够以最佳方式利用它的工作流程。这将提高所有UKRI计算服务的生产率，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，从而确保国际领先地位。

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.