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High-Performance Computing
High-Performance Happy
4/1/2007
Says Bottum: “At Clemson, we’ve had to establish credibility with the faculty, so we’ve had to go out and build that credibility. But we are not forcing the issue; faculty members are getting pressure from the deans and directors to turn over their systems.”
Texas Tech’s Segran concurs. “Some researchers don’t see how we can manage their systems and they will still be able to do the research they need,” he says. “So we work with them to get the right equipment and still be within their parameters.”
Oklahoma, in contrast, developed its central IT management at the behest of its research community, which was clamoring for a robust facility. “It didn’t take much selling; in fact, [the facility] was created in large part as a result of faculty groundswell to make it happen, so an internal HPC group was formed,”
Neeman recalls. “That creation coincided with the arrival of a new CIO, Dennis Aebersold, who had a strong interest in HPC and made it a priority for the IT department. That’s how OSCER came about.”
Reputation and Vision
Having a state-of-the-art research facility not only helps researchers as they strive for better results and the granting of ever-more-advanced research projects, it also helps the university cement its reputation as a world-class institution. A central IT management strategy can play a crucial role in making that happen.
Tips for building an HPC environment
Jim Bottum, vice provost for computing & IT and CIO at Clemson University, shares his top considerations for HPC from the ground up.
- User base. Know what your users’ needs are and tailor your architecture to meet them.
- Facilities. Do the diligence to assess HPC’s potential impact in all areas, including not just space but also power and cooling.
- Architecture. Build a balanced environment.
- Support. Decide what business you are in (e.g., hardware and systems administration only; application enablement and tuning; or environments), and staff accordingly.
- Leverage. Determine what you can leverage (such as national facilities) so that you do not duplicate efforts and are able to stretch your resources.
According to Leydon at Princeton, “A large part of our mission today is research, and, traditionally, Princeton has not been a large research university. The fact that we have been able to bring on these new systems and advance our research capabilities has been extraordinary in helping recruit new faculty.”
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