HPC@USU Finalist at Supercomputing 09 Storage Challenge

The Center for High Performance Computing (HPC@USU) at Utah State University has been selected as one of four finalists in the prestigious national Supercomputing Conference SC09 Storage Challenge.

HPC@USU competes against teams from IBM research, San Diego Supercomputing Center and a joint team of John Hopkins University, George Washington University, Microsoft Research and industry leader NVIDIA. Finalists will present projects Nov. 14–20 at SC09 in Portland, Ore. The winner will be announced Nov. 20.

The HPC@USU team, led by center director Thomas Hauser consists of mechanical engineering master’s student Kyle Horne and HPC@USU lead system administrator Nate Benson.

The project shows how computational fluid dynamic (CFD) tools can take advantage of parallel storage solutions through a parallel implementation of the CFD general notation system (CGNS). The current CGNS system provides a standardized and robust data format to the CFD community and has made it easier to exchange information between different tools in the CFD process. However, it lacks an implementation to take advantage of fast parallel storage system. The HPC@USU project solves that problem and enables CFD developers to take advantage of parallel systems with little additional parallel programming effort.

“Our project creates a higher speed enhanced efficiency process that is desirable among researchers; it allows them to more quickly exchange information which improves collaboration and performance,” said Horne.

           
The HPC@USU team is refining its research paper, as well as implementation on a new HP cluster system connected to a Panasas parallel storage unit for the November conference.      

“Our success shows that you can compete against the ‘big guys’ with a small team of talented and hard working members,” Hauser said. “HPC@USU gives student researchers an opportunity to participate in projects with high impact on a national or international scale.”

The winner of the storage challenge will be selected based on three broad categories: performance and scalability, effective use of storage and storage related resources and innovation.

HPC@USU receives research funding from USDA and engineering support from Panasas.

For more information visit USU’s Center for High Performance Computing Web site.

Writer: Barbara Sidwell, 435-797-1182, barbara.sidwell@usu.edu