[Beowulf] HPC as service

[Eugen Leitl]

(cloud, huh)

http://www.penguincomputing.com/POD/HPC_as_a_service

HPC as a Service™ - A new offering from Penguin Computing

Penguin Computing is proud to provide a new HPC as a Service offering for its
high performance computing customers. For more details, see Penguin on
Demand.

Penguin POD Datasheet

What is High Performance Computing as a Service?

HPC as a Service is a computing model where users have on-demand access to
dynamically scalable, high-performance clusters optimized for parallel
computing including the expertise needed to set up, optimize and run their
applications over the Internet. The traditional barriers associated with
high-performance computing such as the initial capital outlay, time to
procure the system, effort to optimize the software environment, engineering
their system for peak demand and continuing operating costs have been
removed. Instead, HPC as a Service users have a virtualized, scalable cluster
available on demand that operates and has the same performance
characteristics as a physical HPC cluster located in their data room.  HPC as
a Service inside the Cloud

There are different definitions of cloud computing, but at the core “Cloud
computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often
virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.”1 HPC as a
Service extends this model by making concentrated, non-virtualized
high-performance computing resources available in the cloud.

HPC As A Service

HPC as a Service provides users with a number of key benefits:

   1. HPC resources scale with demand and are available with no capital
outlay – only the resources used are actually paid for.

   2. Experts in high-performance computing help setup and optimize the
software environment and can help trouble-shoot issues that might occur.

   3. Faster time-to-results especially for computational requirements that
greatly exceed the existing computing capacity.

   4. Accounts are provided on an individual user basis, and users are billed
for the time they use POD.

   5. Computing costs are reduced, particularly where the workflow has spikes
in demand.

   6. Access from anywhere in the worlds with high-speed data transfer in and
out.

   7. Exchanging hot-swappable 2TB disk drives overnight through Federal
Express provides a secure and convenient way to transfer 25GB+ data sets.