The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis
The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis
Moderator: George Michelogiannakis (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Stanford University)
Panelists: Patricia Gonzalez-Guerrero (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)), John Shalf (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)), Cliff Grossner (Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP)), Kentaro Sano (RIKEN Center for Computational Science (R-CCS)), Hans-Christian Hoppe (Forschungszentrum Jülich)
Abstract: Hardware specialization can provide large performance boosts, but special-purpose systems require significant investments. Therefore, scientific communities that do not have enough resources risk falling behind because they can no longer piggyback on the advancement of general-purpose hardware. Scientific workloads include a wide variety of important applications, such as climate modeling and fluid simulation. This realization motivates modular HPC systems where specialized silicon and hardware can be easily generated and integrated into future systems. Realizing the goal of a modular HPC system requires pathfinding, multi-disciplinary research, and community engagement. In this panel, we will debate diverse strategies from different communities around the globe; how silicon, hardware, and software should evolve to support modularity; the need for standardization and how to realize it; as well as what figures of merit we should strive for.