Next: Applications Characteristics that
Up:
NPAC Technical Report
Previous: Introduction
The consensus of the group was that there was a great need:
- for code development tools;
- for greater reliability of HPCC systems;
- for code migration tools;
- to reduce system software inefficiencies;
- for looking at exciting and innovative applications areas, (to
help the HPCC industry by stimulating new demands). This might
involve very data intensive applications (in contradistinction to
compute intensive ones) but also harder and more complex problems,
irregular data structures and less obviously load balance-able
problems;
- to generally increase market confidence in HPCC as technology
that is becoming mainstream and that is now robust enough for real
commercial and industrial applications.
These technical and economic needs are strongly correlated. The group
believes that the technical deficiencies and general unreliability of
HPCC platforms are the key to why industry and commerce are still only
gradually up-taking HPCC technology in mainstream and core business
activities. However, the technical deficiencies are largely due to
insufficient commercial funding and driven backing. It is not clear
how this loop can be broken. Government intervention in the form of
programmes like EUROPORT or the UK's Parallel Applications Programme
have been suggested as possibilities.
The group identified a number of general observations about HPCC
technology and Applications:
- It was felt generally that the HPCC industry is perceived to be
in a state of financial instability and that this is highly detrimental
to long term planning both for developers and end-users.
- HPCC as a field is technology-led rather than
applications-driven at present. This is true internationally and is a
serious concern for its long term future.
- The group felt that in the current maturing phase for HPCC,
vendors and developers should be starting with applications and not
with the technology per se. In particular, the mid-range computer
user community is now switching to the use of parallel machines (with
a factor of 10 improvement of higher over smaller systems) and that
the needs of those end-users require attention.
- The bulk of the HPCC commercial Market is for mid-range systems, not
high-end ones.
- New code development efforts (eg new companies) are more likely to
adopt HPCC than companies who already have (large) legacy codes.
- We noted we had an insufficient number of commercial end-users in the
group. This reflects the limited number of active participants in the
HPCC field who are from industry and commerce. How do we encourage
more industrial and commercial participation?
- A viable HPCC vendor and software tool industry needs many viable HPCC
applications. There is a need to broaden the application base outside
science and technology (since S&T is too small to sustain a viable HPCC
industry alone). Perhaps education for industrial decision makers in HPCC
exploitation needs greater attention and funding? Might funding be
made available for HPCC academics to participate in end-user community
symposia such as in geophysics, chemistry, aerospace meetings?
This would carry the message to the end-users.
- Can the HPCC development community set standards without full
input from end-user communities and have the ``tail wagging the dog''?
HPCC is too important a technology to be controlled solely by its developers.
- as a group of international composition we note the dilemma of
duplicated efforts between Europe and the USA as well as increasing
input from the far east. To what extent is it healthy for HPCC
developments to be reinvented internationally? Should national
competitiveness be left to the end-user fields? There exists a clear trade
off: competitiveness of the US computer-making industry vs. US
computer-user industry. At present the latter may be suffering at
expense of the former.
Next: Applications Characteristics that
Up:
NPAC Technical Report
Previous: Introduction
Geoffrey Fox, Northeast Parallel Architectures Center at Syracuse University, gcf@npac.syr.edu