MRI: Acquisition of CITI Terascale Cluster (CTC)

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

0216467 Moshe Y. Vardi Don H. Johnson; Ken W. Kennedy; John M. Mellor-Crummey; Willy Zwaenepoel MRI: Acquisition of CITI Terascale Cluster \(CTC\) This proposal, requiring access to the kinds of experimental computational resources needed for scalability experiments, aims to support scalability to thousands of processors. Achieving this goal requires experimentation of computational facilities of sufficient size to establish that solutions will scale to large systems. A high-performance computational cluster with a peak performance of approximately one teraflop, supporting both compute- and data-intensive science and engineering, will enable researchers to make fundamental advances in diverse areas such as biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computational mathematics, computer science and engineering, earth science, economics, physics, political science, and psychology. Experiments planned include: a. Scalability of compiler techniques for systems with hundreds of processors and deep memory and communication hierarchies; b. Development, simulation, and testing of scalable Web services on hundreds of processors; c. Simulations of ad hoc multihop wireless networks scaling to thousands of nodes; d. Scalable algorithms for Monte-Carlo studies of the physics of heavy ion collisions; e. Design and evaluation of scalable optimization algorithms based on component frameworks; f. Extraction and analysis of data on hundreds of millions of international events, to better predict and understand international conflicts (extend the Kansas Data System); and g. Scalability tests and practical application of new algorithms for modeling and simulation of biomolecular interactions using several thousand flexibility parameters. By integrating the equipment in the existing curriculum the educational impact is expected to be large, going beyond a course in parallel programming. Several programs are already in place addressing diversity.