I have been asked by a number of people in the last few weeks "What makes a High Performance Computing Center "World-Class""?
I venture that if you asked ten people who are in our industry and you will get ten different answers. The answers will have a number of common themes and use a lot of the same words, but there will also be suttle differences that may or may not have a lot to do with their current place of work.
I am interested in hearing others bloggers definition and thoughts on "World-Class" computing.
MilMor
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I believe high end computing is more than just the "Center". At a minimum it would include: platform, simulation environment and the applications. By definition this will reach on a small number of "centers". Now what is the definition of leadership level applications, platforms and the simulation environment. Also, I think there is a distinctive group of individuals that could be defined as world class resources. Again there are only a few. I think we would find them among a community of practice where people of this class congregate. Some of them will be at SC|07 this year, but the majority of the few will not be. Why, because this select group does not do super computing because is is fun or challenging. They do it because they have to, to do the job they are doing.
If you meet someone who is a Senior Fellow, I would ask what organization bestowed that honor on him. If it is a title, not an honorarium, then I would not put that fellow in the class with Leadership Class resources.
I almost rejected the anonymous blogger's comments, but some of the things he said has a lot of merit for consideration and discussion. I think she has been talking for listening to Mark Seager. Take a look at the links and this will give some credence to the anonymous blogger's comments.
http://www.nersc.gov/projects/HPC-Integration/
http://www.ccs.ornl.gov/nlcf/
Kathy Yelick, a professor of computer science at the University of California at Berkeley and an internationally recognized expert in developing methods to advance the use of supercomputers, has been named director of the Department of Energy’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).
Professor Yelick can be counted among those Leadership Class resources.
I was in a meeting last month and a question was asked; "How would you define World Class?" The answer was one word; "Lawrence". Another individual commented, although it is not all about "big iron", centers that are consistently on the top 500 list can be considered "World Class". He emphasized "Consistency" as the discriminator.
http://www.supercomputingonline.com/article.php?sid=14717
For more than 30 years, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center have been leaders in scientific computing and networking. And although hardware often seems to get top billing in the world of HPC, it’s their staff who are driving computational science research in new and exciting directions. During SC07 in Reno, they invite you to drop by Booth 351, grab a seat and join in conversations with staff members at the times listed below.
Berkeley Lab Computing Sciences comprises the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and the Computational Research Division. Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is managed by the University of California. Visit the website at www.lbl.gov.
You write very well.
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