Information Technology Center
Introduction to
High Performance
Computing at KFUPM
Agenda
What is HPC?
HPC at KFUPM
Access to HPC
What is HPC?
• HPC, is the application of “supercomputers”,
“Clusters” to computational problems that
are either too large for standard computers
or would take too long.
• HPC can perform calculations many times
faster than a conventional processor.
• A desktop computer generally has a single
processing chip, commonly called a CPU.
• HPC system, on the other hand, is essentially a network of nodes, each
of which contains one or more processing chips, as well as its own
memory.
• The most common users of HPC systems are scientific researchers,
engineers and academic institutions.
HPC Cluster ?
What does HPC Cluster mean ?
• Cluster computing is the technique of linking multiple
computer nodes into a single network to take advantage
of the parallel processing.
• Clusters are usually deployed to improve performance
and availability over that of a single computer, while
typically being much more cost-effective than single
computer of comparable speed or availability.
• Computer Clusters have a wide range of applicability and
deployment, ranging from small business clusters with a
handful of nodes to worlds fastest supercomputers,
like K-computer.
HPC at KFUPM’s
Information Technology Center.
High Performance Computing Center
HPC at KFUPM
•
Planning & Survey started in early 2008.
•
Procured in October 2008.
•
Cluster Installation and Testing during Nov’08-Jan’09.
•
Applications like Gaussian with Linda, DL-POLY, ANSYS, MATLAB etc.
were tested on the HPC cluster.
•
Test problems were provided by Professors of Chemistry, Physics,
Mechanical Engg. And other collaborating departments.
•
PBS Job Scheduler (Torque) and Cluster monitoring tool “Ganglia”
was installed in May 2011 on Linux Cluster.
HPC at KFUPM
128 compute-node e1350 IBM e-Server HPC cluster.
Master Nodes
• 3x Xeon E5405 Quad-Core, 45 GB RAM, 1 TB HD space.
Compute Nodes
• 128 nodes(IBM 3550 rack mounted), 1024 Cores.
• Each compute node of the cluster is a dual-processor
having two 2.0 GHz x3550 Xeon Quad-core E5405 processors, 4 GB RAM,
500 GB of hard disk space.
• Interconnect 10GB Ethernet. Uplink 1000-Base-T Gigabit.
Operating Systems for Compute nodes (Dual Boot)
• Windows HPC Server 2008 and Red Hat Linux 5.2.
Who should be using HPC ?
• The HPC systems put enormous computational capability in the hands of
researchers.
• In many disciplines the use of HPC systems is well established and forms an
integral part of the research.
• HPC systems at KFUPM intend to provide a substantial boost to research in
these areas by providing locally accessible resources.
• We encourage researchers who are constrained by their desktop systems to
use HPC.
Windows - Linux HPC Clusters
• HPC cluster has three master nodes –one for Windows HPC Server 2008, one
for one for Red Hat Linux and one for cluster management.
• Windows HPC Server 2008 is designed for high-end applications that require
high performance computing clusters.
Available Software Packages on HPC Clusters at KFUPM
HPC Performance Trends
The
MATLAB
• Matlab is installed on the HPC cluster, but in order benefit from multiple
nodes, your code should be parallel - including parallel tool box functions like
matlabpool, parfor, spmd, etc.
60 Execution Hours
HPC Performance Trends
Message Passing Interface (MPI)
• The MPI routines are accessed in the same way as any other third-party
library - by including the appropriate header in C/C++ or using the relevant
module in Fortran.
4 times faster
How to Access?
HPC at KFUPM’s Information Technology Center
Access to HPC
 To get an account on the HPC cluster,
write to hpc@kfupm.edu.sa specifying
the following details:
NAME:
KFUPM ID:
DESCIPLINE:
INTENDED SOFTWARE:
 For any queries please send an email to
hpc@kfupm.edu.sa.
High Performance Computing,
Information Technology Center,
KFUPM, Dhahran-31261, Saudi Arabia.