DiRAC BlueGene/Q Upgrade

Lead Research Organisation: University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The BlueGene/Q computer that serves the DiRAC Consortium will be upgraded to increase its compute capability by 50% to ensure that it remains an internationally competitive supercomputer for as long as possible, enabling UK scientists to carry out the most demanding simulations in particle physics and astrophysics. The BlueGene/Q architecture has been designed to enable highly energy-efficient and compute-intensive simulations of the strong force between quarks and gluons, and it will be used primarily for high precision calculations of Standard Model processes that can be compared with experimental measurements to search for signals of new physics. It will also be used to explore nuclear matter at high temperatures and densities, to understand the origin of the masses of elementary particles, and for a range of astrophysics simulations related to cosmology, galaxy and star formation.

Planned Impact

The contribution to the design, prototyping and testing of BlueGene/Q will enable IBM to bring a better product to market. The ongoing software development will help to ensure these machines are utilised effectively for a wide range of applications that benefit the economy, the environment and our health, and, by training members of the DiRAC Consortium in using the most advanced supercomputer technology, it will enhance computing skills in the workforce.
 
Description The objective to upgrade the computational capabilities of the BlueGene/Q computer, which is part of the DiRAC
(Distributed Research utilising Advanced Computing) National Facility, by 50% was achieved successfully. The equipment
was procured, delivered, installed and brought into service according to the originally agreed schedule. It has been
operating reliably since July 2012 to support the research programmes of the UK theoretical particle physics, astrophysics
and nuclear physics communities.

The upgrade has ensured that the UK continues to have
an internationally competitive computing capability that operates at one of the highest levels of energy efficiency in the
world, as a consequence of the computer and machine room designs, both of which benefitted from expertise of staff at the University of Edinburgh
Exploitation Route Access to time on the system is granted through peer review conducted by the DiRAC Resource Allocation Committee. The first round of allocations has been to projects studying the structure, interactions and decays of hadrons, properties of the strong interactions of quarks and gluons at high temperatures, and new strongly-interacting gauge theories that might explain electroweak symmetry breaking.
Sectors Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software)
 
Description The collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and IBM which developed the BlueGene/Q architecture has continued in two respects: on-going improvements to the BlueGene/Q system software to optimise application performance, which are benefitting a wide range of computational science projects worldwide, and a successor project to develop a new architecture for exascale computing. This work ensures that the expertise at Edinburgh, and more widely in the DiRAC Consortium, in exploiting leading-edge HPC systems for the most demanding physics applications continues to feed into IBM's commercial development. In 2013, IBM terminated the BlueGene R&D project and our work on exascale architectures is continuing with another vendor. Access to the BlueGene/Q facility may be purchased by industry users, along with consultancy and technical support from EPCC.
First Year Of Impact 2012
Sector Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software)
Impact Types Cultural,Economic
 
Description PPRP
Amount £241,949 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/K005790/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2012 
End 04/2015
 
Description PPRP
Amount £427,192 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/K005804/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2012 
End 04/2015
 
Description Standard (FEC)
Amount £1,370,934 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/M006530/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2015 
End 03/2017
 
Description Standard (FEC)
Amount £2,393,688 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/L000458/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 10/2014 
End 09/2017