Rethinking High Performance Computing Platforms: Challenges, Opportunities and Recommendations

TL;DR

This paper critiques current HPC platform models, proposes a more symmetric, application-centric model with a prototype implementation, aiming to enhance support for second-generation data-intensive, dynamic applications.

Contribution

It introduces an extended HPC platform model emphasizing decentralization, introspection, and bidirectional control, along with a prototype based on Linux Containers to improve application support.

Findings

Prototype cHPC operates alongside existing systems

Enhanced platform API enables symmetric control and information flow

Roadmap for future research and evaluation provided

Abstract

A new class of Second generation high-performance computing applications with heterogeneous, dynamic and data-intensive properties have an extended set of requirements, which cover application deployment, resource allocation, -control, and I/O scheduling. These requirements are not met by the current production HPC platform models and policies. This results in a loss of opportunity, productivity and innovation for new computational methods and tools. It also decreases effective system utilization for platform providers due to unsupervised workarounds and rogue resource management strategies implemented in application space. In this paper we critically discuss the dominant HPC platform model and describe the challenges it creates for second generation applications because of its asymmetric resource view, interfaces and software deployment policies. We present an extended, more symmetric and application-centric platform model that adds decentralized deployment, introspection, bidirectional control and information flow and more comprehensive resource scheduling. We describe cHPC: an early prototype of a non-disruptive implementation based on Linux Containers (LXC). It can operate alongside existing batch queuing systems and exposes a symmetric platform API without interfering with existing applications and usage modes. We see our approach as a viable, incremental next step in HPC platform evolution that benefits applications and platform providers alike. To demonstrate this further, we layout out a roadmap for future research and experimental evaluation.