HPCOPS: The LONI Grid - Leveraging HPC Resources of the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative for Science and Engineering Research and Education

Louisiana Board Of Regents, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

With this project, Louisiana State University (LSU) joins the integrated, national cyberinfrastructure known as the TeraGrid, contributing high-performance computing (HPC) services and grid technology expertise to support the nation's science and engineering researchers. This project extends the computational capacity of the TeraGrid by providing access to 50% of a Dell Linux cluster that employs Intel's multi-core processor technology. In addition, the project contributes access to several data management and grid services. These services include the PetaShare distributed data archival, analysis, and visualization system, the Highly-Available Robust Co-allocator (HARC) co- scheduler for compute, network, and data services, and the Cactus Computational Toolkit. The project includes the provision of user support, with an emphasis on support for researchers wanting to develop grid applications. The project includes a statewide outreach program anchored by Southern University, a large HBCU system. It is anticipated that the project will leverage LSU's connections with the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) and the Southeastern University Research Association (SURA) to increase the usage of TeraGrid by under-represented groups. Project staff will work with researchers in hurricane and storm surge modeling to develop a TeraGrid Science Gateway for event-driven, ensemble modeling of storm surges when hurricanes approach US coastal regions, a project with the potential to contribute to efforts to improve national hurricane preparedness. The net effects of this award will be: (i) to provide the science and engineering research and education community with access to a high-performance computing resource with a familiar and popular architecture; (ii) to enhance the expertise in and user support for grid services within the TeraGrid; (iii) to increase the geographical diversity of the TeraGrid partnership; and (iv) to enhance the TeraGrid's connections with universities that include significant numbers of students and faculty from under-represented groups. The funded HPC services will permit investigators across a broad range of disciplines to conduct advanced research on topics in many areas of science and engineering. It is anticipated that this award, together with other recent awards in NSF's high-performance computing program, will collectively strengthen the provisioning, to the science and engineering community, of high-end cyberinfrastructure services - such as high-performance computing, community data collections and data analysis services, remote visualization, and science gateway services - through the nationally distributed cyberinfrastructure system that is the TeraGrid.