C3.ca%20in%20Atlantic%20Canada

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C3.ca in Atlantic Canada

• Virendra Bhavsar
• Director, Advanced Computational Research
  Laboratory (ACRL)
• Faculty of Computer Science
• University of New Brunswick
• Fredericton, NB
• Bhavsar_at_unb.ca

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Outline

• Personal view of C3.ca
• Resource providers in Atlantic Canada
• ACRL
• Hardware software
• Users
• Expertise
• Other Atlantic RPs MUN, St. Marys, Dalhousie
• Using C3.ca resources an example

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C3.ca a personal view

• What is C3.ca about?
• Sharing resources
• Sharing expertise
• How to promote use of High Performance Computing
  (HPC)?
• Make access easier
• Better interfaces
• GRID
• Training of HPC application developers

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Resource Providers in Atlantic Canada
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ACRL Workshops

• High Performance Parallel Computing - Getting
  Started on ACRL's IBM SP, a half-day workshop,
  was given by Dr. Eric Aubanel by Dr. Virendra
  Bhavsar in December, January and July
• Feb. 2001 Dr. Eric Myra (IBM USA) gave a
  three-day parallel programming workshop
• Workshops at MACI and HPCS2001

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• First Atlantic Canada High Performance Computing
  Consortium (AC3) Meeting held Feb. 24 2001
• MUN, UNB, UPEI, StFX agreed to create AC3 to
  coordinate effective use of Atlantic Canadas HPC
  systems
• Dalhousie others have joined
• www.cs.unb.ca/acrl/ac3/ac3.html

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• Atlantic Grid proposal to AIF
• www.cs.unb.ca/acrl/ac3/ac3.html

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The AC3 GRID

• An investment in the future of Atlantic Canadian
  RD Infrastructure
• Dr. Virendra C. Bhavsar
• UNB, Fredericton
• bhavsar_at_unb.ca

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What is a GRID System

• Cooperative network of shared resources
• Scaleable wide area network that supports
  resource sharing and distribution
• Composed of geographically distributed,
  autonomous resource providers
• Includes computers, network links, human
  resources and databases
• Exploits the heterogeneous characteristics of the
  participating resource providers
• Generalized data handling, computing and client
  support system
• Supports the development of advanced RD
  applications in Science, Engineering and
  Technology Development, Finance and the Arts.

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GRID Applications

• Large scale and resource intensive frontier
  applications
• RD applications that go beyond current
  technological capabilities
• Technology development applications in
  multi-media, finance, production arts, hard
  sciences and engineering.
• Advanced telecommunications protocol and services
  development
• Require specialized facilities and networks
• Need for high bandwidth, high priority access to
  bandwidth
• Need for access to HPC sites
• Need for access to more than one of a set of
  heterogeneous, geographically distributed
  resources
• Have large computational or data requirements
• Need high performance visualization facilities at
  remote locations.

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Some Application Areas

• Geo-Data processing in Meteorology, Remote
  Sensing, Oceanography, Space Science.
• Computational Chemistry, Biology, Medical Science
  and Services
• Simulation Modeling for Transportation,Telecommuni
  cations and Policy Analysis
• Financial modeling
• Multi-media applications such as embedded video,
  digital video servers and video conferencing.

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AC3 Grid

• Peer network of providers and users
• Resource providers are autonomous installations
  located at Atlantic Canadian universities
• Distributed access to all facilities and support
  resources of the GRID
• Any client with an Internet connection can access
  
• Uniform WEB based user interface
• Common support software available to all clients
• Secure access to resources and data
• Single point of entry to GRID services
• GRID wide monitoring of resource consumption and
  distribution
• GRID wide scheduling and management of shared
  resources

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AC3 Grid

• Shared access to heterogeneous facilities
• Standard user interface to GRID resources
• Shared training and support resources
• Standard training tools and resource information
  databases
• Common development and support tools
• GRID application development and debugging
  environments
• Resource brokering amongst facilities
• Easy discovery of available GRID resources
• Integration with other GRID systems either
  Regional or International

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AC3 GRID Road Map

• Strategic Plan
• Resource and Technology Inventory
• Interim GRID deployment using GLOBUS and Legion
• Core Software Base
• Administrative Arrangements
• Prototype Demonstration
• Initial Deployment
• Resource Discovery Mechanisms
• Advanced Feature Deployment

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Concluding Message

• Canadian HPC resources and expertise are growing
  and are readily available
• Visit www.c3.ca for details

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HPCS 2002

• www.umoncton.ca/hpcs2002
• Deadline for submissions Dec. 14
• All aspects of HPC
• Parallel Architectures and Networking
• Software Systems
• Parallel Algorithms
• Applications