EPCC Tier 2 HPC Service
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Department Name: Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre
Abstract
EPCC is the supercomputer centre at the University of Edinburgh. Throughout our 26-year history, EPCC has significant experience of running supercomputer services for both academic and industrial researchers. We currently run the UK's national supercomputer, ARCHER, that is used for modelling new materials, designing more efficient engines and investigating climate change.
This proposal is to enhance an existing supercomputer with additional compute nodes, and to add a significant amount of next generation accelerators. The design of supercomputers is going through a period of change and accelerators are becoming increasingly important to provide faster supercomputers while using less electricity. This enhanced system will be useful for researchers across the UK to prepare their computer programmes to make effective use of future national supercomputer systems after ARCHER.
As computers become more powerful, they generate ever-increasing amounts of data. Managing and analysing this data is very important to help researchers make new scientific discoveries. This proposal also includes increasing the size of the large data storage facility at EPCC. This will allow researchers to store their data, share it with other people, move it between different supercomputers, and make new discoveries that will improve society and people's lives.
There will be a number of these medium-size supercomputers funded alongside the existing national supercomputer, ARCHER. These will have different features and so will be useful for different research problems. It is important that these supercomputers work together to provide maximum benefits for everyone. We will work with all the other successful proposals to provide a coherent service across all the different supercomputers. Most of the time on our supercomputer will be freely available for researchers from throughout the UK. We will work together with the other successful proposals to ensure that researchers can get access to the most appropriate system/ In addition, we have developed a we.-based portal that makes it easier for users to access the different systems. As part of our proposal, we will work with all the other successful proposals so that they can use our web-based portal completely free of cost.
This proposal is to enhance an existing supercomputer with additional compute nodes, and to add a significant amount of next generation accelerators. The design of supercomputers is going through a period of change and accelerators are becoming increasingly important to provide faster supercomputers while using less electricity. This enhanced system will be useful for researchers across the UK to prepare their computer programmes to make effective use of future national supercomputer systems after ARCHER.
As computers become more powerful, they generate ever-increasing amounts of data. Managing and analysing this data is very important to help researchers make new scientific discoveries. This proposal also includes increasing the size of the large data storage facility at EPCC. This will allow researchers to store their data, share it with other people, move it between different supercomputers, and make new discoveries that will improve society and people's lives.
There will be a number of these medium-size supercomputers funded alongside the existing national supercomputer, ARCHER. These will have different features and so will be useful for different research problems. It is important that these supercomputers work together to provide maximum benefits for everyone. We will work with all the other successful proposals to provide a coherent service across all the different supercomputers. Most of the time on our supercomputer will be freely available for researchers from throughout the UK. We will work together with the other successful proposals to ensure that researchers can get access to the most appropriate system/ In addition, we have developed a we.-based portal that makes it easier for users to access the different systems. As part of our proposal, we will work with all the other successful proposals so that they can use our web-based portal completely free of cost.
Planned Impact
The EPCC National Tier 2 Integration and HPC Accelerator Service will deliver strong scientific and industrial impact now and in the future in three specific areas:
1. Through support via SAFE for the creation of a national network of Tier 2 centres;
2. By preparing key codes from the UK scientific software base for use on Intel Xeon Phi accelerators on the road to the Exascale by the mid-2020s; and
3. Delivering an enhanced EPCC industry service to companies around the UK, Europe and beyond.
SAFE
EPCC has run national services for EPSRC since the Cray T3D in 1994. Our SAFE software has developed over the past 20 years from simple scripts to the comprehensive web-based system we use today. Although most UK users know SAFE from the point of view of account and resource management, there is also significant value in its helpdesk and reporting functionality.
By deploying SAFE across the Tier 2 network we hope to amplify the value of this funding, demonstrating the impact a joined-up Tier 2 service will have on EPSRC's scientific community and the wider UK scientific and industrial communities.
SCIENCE
Although Exascale computers are 6-8 years away, the technologies that are likely to be used in them are becoming clearer. There will be an increase in the use of accelerators, a greater focus on heterogeneity, more complex memory hierarchies, and new models of I/O. The HPC Accelerator Service that will be provided by this funding will allow EPCC to work with the EPSRC scientific community to prepare their scientific software codes and simulation techniques for the very high core counts and complex memory hierarchies expected to dominate in the future. By starting this work now, the impact of future national services, such as ARCHER 2, will be maximised.
Additionally, the funding will support the creation of a Tier 2 RDF service. Here we will work with the other Tier 2 centres and their user base to explore the value of different high level data services such that the future impact of investment in EPSRC's RDF can be maximised.
INDUSTRY
Since 1990 when EPCC was created, we have had a strong focus on working with industry. Not only is such work a key part of our business model, it is also a key part of our mission - "to accelerate the effective uptake of HPC and novel computing by industry, academia and commerce". Our value proposition delivers competitive advantage in the form of lower costs, improved products and services, and accelerated time to market for our industrial customers in segments such as engineering, energy, oil and gas, renewables, manufacturing and materials, life sciences, aerospace and automotive, and financial services.
Our successful and sustainable business model has been instrumental in allowing us to invest in HPC resources for industry. In 2012, EPCC, at its own expense, bought the INDY system that it has used, along with ARCHER, to deliver cycle-sales to industry over the past 4 years. In April 2016, this system was replaced by INDY 2, a state of the art SGI ICE XA system dedicated to industrial use. It is this system we intend to expand with this funding, further encouraging industrial collaboration and our long-term sustainability.
1. Through support via SAFE for the creation of a national network of Tier 2 centres;
2. By preparing key codes from the UK scientific software base for use on Intel Xeon Phi accelerators on the road to the Exascale by the mid-2020s; and
3. Delivering an enhanced EPCC industry service to companies around the UK, Europe and beyond.
SAFE
EPCC has run national services for EPSRC since the Cray T3D in 1994. Our SAFE software has developed over the past 20 years from simple scripts to the comprehensive web-based system we use today. Although most UK users know SAFE from the point of view of account and resource management, there is also significant value in its helpdesk and reporting functionality.
By deploying SAFE across the Tier 2 network we hope to amplify the value of this funding, demonstrating the impact a joined-up Tier 2 service will have on EPSRC's scientific community and the wider UK scientific and industrial communities.
SCIENCE
Although Exascale computers are 6-8 years away, the technologies that are likely to be used in them are becoming clearer. There will be an increase in the use of accelerators, a greater focus on heterogeneity, more complex memory hierarchies, and new models of I/O. The HPC Accelerator Service that will be provided by this funding will allow EPCC to work with the EPSRC scientific community to prepare their scientific software codes and simulation techniques for the very high core counts and complex memory hierarchies expected to dominate in the future. By starting this work now, the impact of future national services, such as ARCHER 2, will be maximised.
Additionally, the funding will support the creation of a Tier 2 RDF service. Here we will work with the other Tier 2 centres and their user base to explore the value of different high level data services such that the future impact of investment in EPSRC's RDF can be maximised.
INDUSTRY
Since 1990 when EPCC was created, we have had a strong focus on working with industry. Not only is such work a key part of our business model, it is also a key part of our mission - "to accelerate the effective uptake of HPC and novel computing by industry, academia and commerce". Our value proposition delivers competitive advantage in the form of lower costs, improved products and services, and accelerated time to market for our industrial customers in segments such as engineering, energy, oil and gas, renewables, manufacturing and materials, life sciences, aerospace and automotive, and financial services.
Our successful and sustainable business model has been instrumental in allowing us to invest in HPC resources for industry. In 2012, EPCC, at its own expense, bought the INDY system that it has used, along with ARCHER, to deliver cycle-sales to industry over the past 4 years. In April 2016, this system was replaced by INDY 2, a state of the art SGI ICE XA system dedicated to industrial use. It is this system we intend to expand with this funding, further encouraging industrial collaboration and our long-term sustainability.
Organisations
Publications
Büchner D
(2024)
Analysis of the directional and spectral distributions of kinetic energy in aortic blood flow
in Physics of Fluids
Ngambia A
(2024)
Development of biochar molecular models with controlled porosity
in Biomass and Bioenergy
Chandrasekaran A
(2024)
On the engineering of higher-order Van Hove singularities in two dimensions
in Nature Communications
Idarraga G
(2024)
Hyperelastic behaviour of elastomers for wave energy applications
in Ocean Engineering
Zhang F
(2024)
An obstacle avoidance-specific reinforcement learning method based on fuzzy attention mechanism and heterogeneous graph neural networks
in Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence
Khan S
(2024)
Spin-Glass States Generated in a van der Waals Magnet by Alkali-Ion Intercalation.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Manchester EL
(2024)
Aortic valve neocuspidization and bioprosthetic valves: Evaluating turbulence haemodynamics.
in Computers in biology and medicine
Agarwal P
(2024)
Evaluation of WRF-Chem-simulated meteorology and aerosols over northern India during the severe pollution episode of 2016
in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Seeyangnok J
(2024)
Superconductivity and electron self-energy in tungsten-sulfur-hydride monolayer
in 2D Materials
Zhang X
(2024)
Epitaxial Growth of Large-Scale 2D CrTe2 Films on Amorphous Silicon Wafers With Low Thermal Budget.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Moon A
(2024)
Writing and Detecting Topological Charges in Exfoliated Fe5-xGeTe2.
in ACS nano
Mishra S
(2024)
Bistability between p-diradical open-shell and closed-shell states in indeno[1,2-a]fluorene.
in Nature chemistry
Clark R
(2024)
Estimating the Potential Public Health Value of BCG Revaccination
in The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Cao D
(2024)
Swash-flow induced forces on human body standing on a smooth and impermeable slope: A numerical study with experimental validations
in Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics
Rhodes L
(2024)
Structural routes to stabilize superconducting La 3 Ni 2 O 7 at ambient pressure
in Physical Review Materials
Brehm V
(2024)
Topological magnon gap engineering in van der Waals CrI 3 ferromagnets
in Physical Review B
Zhang H
(2024)
Modelling chemical processes in explicit solvents with machine learning potentials.
in Nature communications
Parry J
(2024)
Conjugate Modeling of a Closed Co-Rotating Compressor Cavity
in Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power
Piskorz TK
(2024)
Metallicious: Automated Force-Field Parameterization of Covalently Bound Metals for Supramolecular Structures.
in Journal of chemical theory and computation
Su J
(2024)
Low-frequency still-air acoustic inertia of inclined circular aperture in an infinite flat plate of finite thickness
in Journal of Sound and Vibration
Seeyangnok J
(2024)
Superconductivity and strain-enhanced phase stability of Janus tungsten chalcogenide hydride monolayers
in Physical Review B
Stere C
(2024)
Removal and Oxidation of Low Concentration tert -Butanol from Potable Water using Nonthermal Plasma Coupled with Metal Oxide Adsorption
in ACS ES&T Engineering
Vitek M
(2024)
Global Aromatic Ring Currents in Neutral Porphyrin Nanobelts
in ACS Nano
Marques C
(2024)
Spin-orbit coupling induced Van Hove singularity in proximity to a Lifshitz transition in Sr4Ru3O10
in npj Quantum Materials
Ngambia A
(2024)
Development of biochar molecular models with controlled porosity
Profe J
(2024)
Magic angle of Sr 2 RuO 4 : Optimizing correlation-driven superconductivity
in Physical Review Research
Kopp S
(2024)
Cationic polaron delocalization in porphyrin nanoribbons
in Chem
Fang X
(2024)
Realization of Extreme Nonstoichiometry in Gadolinium Aluminate Garnets by Glass Crystallization Synthesis
in Chemistry of Materials
Stylianou C
(2024)
Morpheus: A library for efficient runtime switching of sparse matrix storage formats
in SoftwareX
Sterling AJ
(2024)
Beyond Strain Release: Delocalization-Enabled Organic Reactivity.
in The Journal of organic chemistry
Stawski W
(2024)
The anti-aromatic dianion and aromatic tetraanion of [18]annulene.
in Nature chemistry
Jang M
(2024)
Direct observation of twisted stacking domains in the van der Waals magnet CrI3.
in Nature communications
Huang Y
(2025)
Bio-inspired adaptive flexible tube wave energy converters: Resonant fluid-structure interaction and power extraction
in Physics of Fluids
Nagy P
(2025)
A sensitivity study of the transonic aerodynamics of a strut-braced airframe
in The Aeronautical Journal
Montiel-Álvarez A
(2025)
The First Three-Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Model of the Lithosphere Beneath Britain
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Garland J
(2025)
Thickness-Dependent Skyrmion Evolution in Fe 3 GeTe 2 During Magnetization Reversal
in Advanced Functional Materials
Seeyangnok J
(2025)
Competition between superconductivity and ferromagnetism in 2D Janus MXH (M = Ti, Zr, Hf, X = S, Se, Te) monolayer
in Journal of Alloys and Compounds
Schwedland W
(2025)
Unexpected structural isomers of AlFe2O4 + and AlCo2O4 +: vibrational spectroscopy and ion mobility combined with quantum chemistry.
in Chemical science
Matam SK
(2025)
A complementary experimental and computational study on methanol adsorption isotherms of H-ZSM-5.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Stover J
(2025)
Effects of reductions in US foreign assistance on HIV, tuberculosis, family planning, and maternal and child health: a modelling study
in The Lancet Global Health
Seeyangnok J
(2025)
Solid solubility in metallic hydrogen
in Physical Review B
Rhodes L
(2025)
Probing moiré electronic structures through quasiparticle interference
in Physical Review B
| Description | It has been possible to operate the EPSRC Tier 2 HPC service for the benefit of both academic scientific research and industrial use. In particular, over the past 3 years we have had around 80 industry users annually on the system, either using it in collaborative projects with academic researchers or on a pay-per-use basis. |
| Exploitation Route | If appropriate support for users is provided, coupled to a properly skilled business development team, any HPC centre should be able to develop local support for businesses on their HPC service. |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Construction Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Energy Financial Services and Management Consultancy Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | EPCC's Tier 2 HPC Service - called Cirrus - has provided access to a number of companies over the past five years to help them improve their products and services. Many of these companies have come from the manufacturing and engineering sectors. Cirrus also formed part of the EC-funded Fortissimo Cloud of HPC Resources which provided pay-on-demand access to its resources for companies across Europe. A small company, the Fortissimo Marketplace Ltd has been established with the PI as Managing Director which markets Cirrus and other Fortissimo Cloud systems to companies across Europe. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Energy,Environment,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Transport |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | IAA Grant to Accelerate the impact of Cirrus uptake across Scottish Manufacturing SMEs via outreach in collaboration with CEED |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We received an Impact Accelerator Activity award to allow us to promote the Cirrus Tier 2 service to Scottish Manufacturing SMEs. The work was undertaken in collaboration with CEED - an organisation representing Scottish Manufacturing and Engineering companies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |