|
by Juli Rew
SCD's High-Performance Systems Section (HPS) is responsible for managing the
computational and storage needs of scientific users on computing
systems ranging from supercomputers to desktop PCs. The section is
also responsible for the design, administration, and maintenance of
NCAR's world-class Mass Storage System.
Over the past year, HPS has tried to improve monitoring of our systems
and catch operational problems in a more timely fashion. SCD is
reducing "down time" in two ways: trying to have more robust systems,
but if they do go down, trying to respond more quickly.
New compute power and better turnaround
Last year, HPS set up the software environment for two major new
machines: chipeta, a new Cray J90-SE with 24 processors; and
ute, an SGI Origin 2000 with 128
processors and distributed shared memory.
As a result, turnaround for user jobs has improved. Turnaround
before the replacement of shavano (a CRAY Y-MP) was often around a
day, says HPS section head Tom Engel. "Now, you submit a job and it
starts executing immediately."
Data Park concept grows up
At the beginning of 1998, winterpark, an SGI Power Challenge, was not
yet well known or used. This new platform is part of the "Data Park"
concept, designed to offer fast access to the MSS and large amounts of
data storage for interactive data processing. It has become so
successful as a postprocessing and data analysis machine (graphics,
statistics, etc.) that the system hasn't been able to keep up with the
demand. Thus, winterpark will be substantially upgraded in the next
few months, probably with a new platform.
Distributed shared memory for the community
In 1998 SCD brought in its first distributed shared memory platform for the
community -- sioux, an HP-Convex Exemplar SPP2000 with 64
processors. Tom believes that this is a good opportunity for users to
get their feet wet parallel programming on a DSM. And use of sioux is
free. "The only cost to the user is the cost of porting the code."
If you are interested in trying sioux, you can request an account by
sending e-mail to dbs@ucar.edu or by calling the SCD Database Services
Group at 303-497-1225. Please include your login name and your project
number with your request.
Behind the scenes: The Year 2000
HPS is busily engaged in Year 2000 compliance work to make sure that
the SCD systems are unaffected by possible date-related
glitches. A discussion of NCAR issues and plans is at the following
URL:
Security enhanced
Recently SCD established an NCAR "security
perimeter" for its computing systems that helps protect the
internal NCAR network. Tom notes that the perimeter has been set up so
that our main users are not affected by the firewall. Main computers
such as the Crays (referred to as "exposed hosts") are open to all
NCAR users, but security has been heightened -- monitoring for
intrusions has been increased. Tom notes, "There's a need to strike a
balance between readily accessible and secure." HPS is testing
ssh (secure shell utility) on its exposed hosts and plans to
have it available within a few months for users who want to have their
login sessions encrypted.
Looking to the future: Keeping up with big data
HPS has the goal of continuing to provide services at the level
demanded by our users. In particular, HPS will provide and support the
highly reliable MSS and meet the rapidly increasing demands for data
storage and retrieval. As mentioned above, the Data Park will also be
expanded, and SCD will pay more attention to providing facilities for
model postanalysis for its users.
|
