SUPERCOMPUTING CENTERS - FOR CYCLES OR SPORT CARS?



Subject: 8245 SUPERCOMPUTING CENTERS - FOR CYCLES OR SPORT CARS? 02.02.96
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SUPERCOMPUTING CENTERS - FOR CYCLES OR SPORT CARS?                   02.02.96
Letter to the editor by Ann-Marie (Martensson-)Pendrill               HPCwire
Member of the Swedish Council for High-Performance Computing
=============================================================================

To the Editor:

  A Supercomputing Center is expected to provide many facilities, in addition
to "cycle shop activities", as emphasized in the discussions about the future
of the NSF Centers at Supercomputing '95.  It should, e.g., provide
assistance in tune-up to enable programs to run at peak performance.  There
is, however, a considerable risk that the resulting "sport car" is caught in
a queue surrounded by masses of slower "cyclists"; queues at a computing
centre may build up until the turnaround time becomes comparable to that at
other alternatives available to the users (just like alternative routes to
work tend to take the same amount of driving time).  The resulting
"Conservation of Elapsed Time" was discussed in a recent article in IJSCA-HPC
(Int.  J. Supercomputing Applications and High-Performance Computing) Vol 9:4
(1995) p 312-314 (also available on-line at 
http://fy.chalmers.se/~f3aamp/turnaround.html), and seems to find additional
confirmation in last weeks HPCwire article 8223 "Great Lakes Pollution
Modelers Opt for HP Workstations" 01.26.96, informing about NOAA's Great
Lakes Pollution Modellers moving to HP workstations.

  Programme committees clearly have a role to ensure that such an
"Equilibrium" between a Supercomputing Center and alternative computers
is not established!  At present, the excellent on-line statistics
available from the Centers (http://www.qrc.com/cise/asc/usagedb/start.htm) 
presents the total utilization of the system, but no information about the
queuing time.  It may then be tempting focus on utilization at the cost of
turnaround times. The allocation strategies adopted by programme committees
to deal with these conflicting goals would have a significant impact on the
success of a centre, and it would therefore seem valuable if these could be
discussed and shared.  One possibility might be to introduce the concept of
a "service level agreement", whereby the users would be guaranteed expected
"turnaround expansion factors" (maybe with 90th percentiles of the
distribution) for different types of jobs.  A user investing considerable
time to port a program deserves a guarantee that this effort will remain
worthwhile!

Ann-Marie.Pendrill@fy.chalmers.se

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From hpcnews@newsmaster.tgc.com Fri Feb  2 05:44 MET 1996
Date: Thu, 1 Feb 96 20:29:32 -0800
From: hpcnews@newsmaster.tgc.com (Automated Mailer)
To: hpdamp@tfr.se
Subject: HPCwire Table of Contents: February 2
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                  7122) AS HPC UNDERGOES A METAMORPHOSIS,
            WHAT DO USERS WANT FROM HPC PRODUCTS AND SERVICES?
                           (Updated Feb. 1)
Questions addressed in this special study include: ** Has HPC lost its
uniqueness? ** Is HPC limited to a relatively narrow core?  ** Should the
posture of the HPC community toward the commercial sector be one of resolute
separation or dynamic interdependence?  ** What are the major problems or
shortcomings in HPC hardware, software, and services as they exist today? **
Two, five, or ten years from now, how will the technological foundation of HPC
differ from today?

This study explores these and other questions with the help of a worldwide 
panel of highly-experienced HPC professionals.

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                7126)  Petasites And Mainstream Markets 
                         Moving SONY To New Levels

  _______________________________ IN THIS ISSUE _____________________________
|                                                                            |
|  8245 ) LETTER TO THE EDITOR: MORE ON SUPERCOMPUTER CENTER QUEUES          |
|  8249 ) COMMERCIAL NEWS: COMPUTER SLEUTHS TRACK DOWN MEDICARE FRAUD        |
|  8251 ) NEWS BRIEFS: IBM BUYS CLIENT-SERVER SOFTWARE COMPANY               |
|____________________________________________________________________________|

FEATURES =====================================================================
8243 ) THE UNIX PARADOX: STRENGTH WITHOUT UNITY..........................6.99K
       Commentary by Norris Parker Smith, editor at large
       As Uniforum approaches, the Unix factions may dispute among themselves,
       but they all fear Windows NT. However, diversity has its strengths, 
       and Unix has acquired depth that remains beyond the grasp of NT. 

8244 ) MARINE COMMANDANT CALLS FOR INNOVATION IN WARFARE APPLICATIONS....3.95K
       by Alan Beck, associate editor
       Expecting chip, computing and wide-band communications capabilities to
       improve more than three orders of magnitude by the end of the century,
       the U.S. military is looking for a few good applications that can 
       deliver the right stuff.

8245 ) SUPERCOMPUTING CENTERS - FOR CYCLES OR SPORT CARS?................1.84K
       Letter to the editor by Ann-Marie (Martensson-)Pendrill
       Queues at a supercomputing center may build up until the point where
       "Sport Cars" are caught up in a queue of slow "Cycles". What strategies
       can program committees develop to avoid the establishment of such an
       equilibrium between supercomputers and workstations?

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING NEWS
8246 ) UNLOCKING THE SUN'S SECRETS: SIMULATING TURBULENT CONVECTION......7.34K
       by Michael Schneider, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
       To see what the Sun's 5,000 degrees F. surface would look like if you
       were there, University of Minnesota physicist Paul Woodward used
       computers at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and other places to 
       develop new methods of modeling.

8247 ) 8-NODE IBM SP2 SEEKS ANSWERS TO PROVOCATIVE COSMIC QUESTIONS......10.0K
       Commentary by Michael Erbschloe, contributing editor
       Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Department of Physics and
       Astronomy will be putting their newly installed IBM SP2 to work 
       unlocking the secrets of the universe's structure.

COMMERCIAL NEWS
8248 ) BULL OFFERS A POWERPC SMP SERVER: THE ESCALA......................6.37K
       Commentary by Norris Parker Smith, editor at large
       France's Bull SA reports sales of 4,000 Escala SMP systems, based on 
       the PowerPC and running AIX. Bull must wait a year for the PowerPC 620
       while Intel floods the world with PentiumPro multiprocessor boards.

8249 ) LOS ALAMOS COMPUTER SLEUTHS HUNT FOR MEDICARE FRAUD...............6.14K
       Under a two-year, $6 million contract with the Health Care Financing
       Administration (HCFA), Los Alamos is using modern computer techniques
       to analyze transactions and recommend fraud reduction measures.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK ============================================================
8244 ) "Increasingly, capable opponents will not deal with us in a test of
       strength. Instead of trying to match us tank for tank, plane for plane,
       or fight an industrial-age war...They're going to target our
       vulnerabilities...They're going to come after our information systems." 
               -- Gen. Charles C. Krulak, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps

  ___________________________INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT______________________________
 |                                                                           |
 | 7122 ) AS HPC UNDERGOES A METAMORPHOSIS,                                  |
 |        WHAT DO USERS WANT FROM HPC PRODUCTS AND SERVICES?                 |
 | 7125 ) New Internet Resource for Real World Signals and Information.      |
 | 7114 ) Quarterdeck InternetSuite: Everything You Need for the Internet    |
 | 7120 ) How To Find Hard-To-Find HPC Professionals                         | 
 | __________________________________________________________________________|

NEWS BRIEFS ==================================================================
  8250 ) Avalon A12 Supercomputer Packs 8 GFlops into Less Than 2 Cu.Ft..3.56K
  8251 ) IBM Buys Client-Server Software Developer, Tivoli Systems.......3.00K
  8252 ) Supercomputer Centers Drive Network Infrastructure Evolution....5.75K
  8253 ) Data General & Dolphin Develop Standard Interconnect Technology.2.88K
  8254 ) Intelligent I/O Architecture Initiative Calls for Scalability...4.35K
  8255 ) Concurrent Ships 16-Processor Maxion Real-Time Computer.........1.62K
  8256 ) It's Official: New U.S. Export Regulations Are Now in Effect....1.72K
  8257 ) Digital AlphaStation Incorporates 64-bit, 333 Mhz 21164 Chip....2.06K
  8258 ) Automated Fingerprint ID System Demand Reaches Record Levels....2.30K
  8259 ) Northrop Grumman Picks Digital to Power Stealth Bomber Lab......1.31K
  8260 ) Disk Drive Industry Dominated by Fibre Channel Loop Community...1.66K
  8261 ) Quickturn Seeks to Halt Importation of Mentor Emulation Systems.2.15K
SHORT TAKES
  8262 ) Product Watch: Pyramid Reliant RM1000 & DEC AlphaServer Updates.13.4K
  8263 ) Financial Update: SAP Sets Record. Adaptive's Private Placement.15.3K
  8264 ) Corporate Liaisons: Maximum Strategy Allys. Sun Selects Praxis..6.74K
  8265 ) People & Promotions: Woodward Wins Fernbach. New CEO for SAP....9.89K
  
JOB BANK =====================================================================
   667) Employment Opportunities........................................2.38K
        From: NCSA(4), San Diego Supercomputing Center(2), NEC(2), 
              Berkeley Laboratory, IBM, The Bernhardt Agency, 
                      Batelle Pacific, Tessera  

    604) Job Bank Rates and Regulations.................................1.22K

CONFERENCES =================================================================
  2888 ) Calendar of Upcoming HPC Events (Updated Feb. 1)...............10.8K

HPCwire INFORMATION =========================================================
 7000) Subscription Information/Get On-Off Mailing List/Letters to the Editor
       Back Issue Index/Masthead, Email Contacts, Submission Tips.......1.23K
 
 ______________________H P C w i r e   S P O N S O R S______________________
|          Full background information on all Sponsoring Companies          |
|                                                                           |
| 936) Sony                  905) Maximum Strategy    *912) Avalon Computer |
| 934) Convex Computer Corp. 930) HNSX Supercomputers  932) Portland Group  | 
| 921) Cray Research Inc.    902) IBM Corp.            915) Genias Software | 
| 909) Fujitsu               904) Intel Corp.          935) Silicon Graphics|
|                            937) Digital Equipment                         |
|__________________*Updated information within last 30 days_________________|

             *** LAST ISSUE'S MOST REQUESTED ITEMS FROM HPCwire ***
8220 ) SGI UNVEILS A FULL RANGE OF NEW MODELS, PLUS PRICE CUTS...........10.5K
8221 ) HPC TECHNOLOGY IS KEY TO FUTURE BATTLEFIELD STRATEGY..............3.40K
8225 ) NCSA OPENS "SCIENCE FOR THE MILLENNIUM" WEB SITE..................3.88K
8230 ) Brisk Orders for T3E Help Cray Finish 1995 With $437M Backlog.....5.51K
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From hpcnews@newsmaster.tgc.com Fri Feb  9 05:31 MET 1996
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 96 20:16:25 -0800
Subject: HPCwire Table of Contents: February 9

...

             *** LAST ISSUE'S MOST REQUESTED ITEMS FROM HPCwire ***
8243 ) THE UNIX PARADOX: STRENGTH WITHOUT UNITY..........................6.99K
8245 ) SUPERCOMPUTING CENTERS - FOR CYCLES OR SPORT CARS?................1.84K
667 )  EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES..........................................2.38K
7122 ) AS HPC UNDERGOES A METAMORPHOSIS, WHAT DO USERS WANT FROM HPC PRODUCTS 
       AND SERVICES?



From dianna@tgc.com Thu Feb 29 20:28 MET 1996
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 96 11:13:24 -0800
To: Ann-Marie Pendrill 
From: dianna@tgc.com (Dianna Husum)
Subject: Re: HPCwire submission

Hello Ann-Marie:

As of today, 580 unique users have retrieved your letter. Your letter is
accessible to about 4,000 users. We appreciate the submission and welcome
any future submissions you may have.

Regards,
Dianna


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