MRI: Acquisition of a High Performance GPU/CPU Cluster for Research and Innovation in Computational Sciences and Engineering

FIT正在收购佛罗里达理工学院的高性能计算（HPC）集群，该集群采用多核英特尔CPU、NVIDIA V100 GPU和多层存储。主要研究方向包括自然科学（化学、物理、数学和气象学）、计算机科学和工程以及医学。该基础设施将被添加到由2009年MRI资助的前一个集群中，并将帮助建立FIT的计算工程和科学研究所（ICES）。该HPC集群的设计借鉴了瑞士CERN实验室的设计，该实验室可以说是世界上最大的科学中心。 CERN应对计算挑战的战略有三个方面：通过公共云和HPC扩展容量;通过GPU，FPGA和TPU等硬件加速器提高数据中心性能;利用基于人工智能（AI）和机器学习（ML）的新计算技术。本设计包括一个计算架构，其中包含一个园区内HPC群集（ICES HPC），它基于GPU机器学习加速器以及CPU，具有高效的网络，可确保快速双向访问其他超级计算机和云，从而允许超出本地HPC容量的超大型计算任务在异地超大规模提供商上运行，例如由极端科学和工程发现环境XSEDE管理的那些）。该项目的智力价值与国际海洋考察理事会作为一个多学科和跨学科的计算中心有关，拥有配备最新高性能计算和数据存储技术的计算机集群，可以让佛罗里达科技公司在协作环境中工作，利用AI/ML创建新的创新算法和技术，进行计算密集型和大型计算。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

FIT is acquiring a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster with multi-core Intel CPUs, NVIDIA V100 GPUs, and several layers of storage at Florida Institute of Technology. The key research thrusts include natural sciences (chemistry, physics, mathematics, and meteorology), computer science and engineering, and medicine. The infrastructure would be added to the previous cluster funded by a 2009 MRI and will help establish the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences (ICES) at FIT.The design of this HPC cluster has taken the cue from the CERN laboratory in Switzerland, arguably the largest scientific center in the world. The CERN strategy to meet computing challenges has a 3-prong approach: scale out capacity with public clouds and HPCs; increase data center performance with hardware accelerators such GPUs, FPGAs and TPUs; utilize new computational techniques based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). The present design comprises a computing architecture that includes an on-campus HPC cluster (the ICES HPC), which is based on GPU machine learning accelerators, as well as CPUs, with highly efficient networking to ensure rapid bi-directional access to other supercomputers and clouds to allow super-large computational tasks beyond the local HPC capacity to run on off-site hyperscale providers, such as those managed by Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment XSEDE), after development and testing at the ICES HPC facility. The intellectual merit of the project pertains to the ICES as a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary computational center, with a computer cluster equipped with the latest technologies for highto-performance computing and data storage that could allow Florida Tech to work in a collaborative environment to create new and innovative algorithms and techniques utilizing AI/ML for conducting computational-intensive and big-data research in science and engineering disciplines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.