1. January 21, 2015
Thoughts and Observations for Brainstorm
HPCD Workshop 1
John Towns
PI and Project Director, XSEDE
Executive Director, Science & Technology, NCSA
jtowns@ncsa.illinois.edu
3. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Points to be Discussed
• Resource availability (via XSEDE)
• Allocations issues
• Considerations for NSF investment strategies
– taking a broader view…
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4. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Lack of XSEDE-allocated Resources
• XSEDE a victim of its own success
– NSF mandate to reach to new researchers and
communities
– XSEDE has been successful but this has created
additional demand
• new researchers and communities presenting new
demands
• existing researchers and communities have growing
demands
• Growing unsatiated demand from the
community; reduction in available resources
4
5. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
XSEDE Computational User Census
5
9. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Allocations Issues: who is supported?
• Whom does NSF support with HPCD resources
via XSEDE?
– more than you might think
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10. Total Research Funding Supported by XSEDE
in Program Year 3
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$767 million in research
supported by XSEDE
in PY3
(July 2013-June 2014)
Research funding only. XSEDE leverages and
integrates additional infrastructure, some
funded by NSF (e.g. Track 2 systems) and some
not (e.g. Internet2).
12. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Allocations Issues: double jeopardy
• Double jeopardy:
– submit financial support proposal and get it funded
– submit associated proposal to support awarded work
to XSEDE
– concern that work is reviewed twice
• XSEDE policy
– allocations requests with financial support are only to
have computational aspects reviewed
• appropriate and effective use of resources
– we believe this occurs only rarely and address it when
it does
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13. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Things I have heard...
• Support services continue to be the most common need seen
– does not minimize needs for systems
– recognizes these resources are hard to use
• unlikely to go away even with real efforts to make these easier to use
• Workflows are on the rise
– multiple interdependent stages of work to conduct research
– many need to use multiple resources that are not co-located
– ensembles are becoming even more important
• Overall environment needs to minimize impact on researchers getting
research done
– common services, aligned environments on systems, …
• Where is the data infrastructure??
– strongly emerging need for resources and services to support data
management, storage, data use, data sharing, data preservation,…
– demands from NSF and publishers require this
– often researchers produce data with great value to brooder community
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14. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Thoughts for consideration…
• Is NSF taking a fully holistic view of the need to HPCD
resources and services?
– ACI cannot pay for it all
– divisions should focus on the specific needs
of the communities they represent
– possible funding strategy:
• ACI funds base infrastructure and services that support all
disciplines
• divisions focus funding on specific needs (in type and scale) of
their associated communities
• Is there a serious discussion of how the overall needs
will be supported?
– what responsibilities do divisions have to contribute to the
portfolio of resources
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15. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
More thoughts for consideration…
• A balanced portfolio a resources is critical
– different work requires different resources
• almost all require multiple resources
– almost never will have all necessary resources co-
located
• perhaps unique to NSF-supported resources
• What is the right balance of investment in the
portfolio and how should this be funded?
• Is there any attempt to grow the pie?
– as opposed to looking at this as a zero sum game…
– of course, budget outlook is not good…
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16. SNIC User Forum 2014
15-16 December 2014
Take the Broader View
• Need to look at NSF investments across the foundation
– not just looking at ACI-supported resources and services
– are we “right-sizing” investments in different types of
resources based on overall demands
– how do we make best global use
• Need to look at how those investments
are coordinated (or not)
– double-dipping
– engagement of CPOs in understanding how resources and
services are supporting the research they fund
– aligning allocations policies and procedures
– composite views of how these resources are being used
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• Please cite as: Towns, John. Thoughts and Observations for Brainstorm
HPCD Workshop 1, January 2015,
[http://www.slideshare.net/jtownsil/xsede-at-brainstormhpjan2015]
• ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7961-2277
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