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HPC clouds deployed for academia

A partnership between Penguin Computing and multiple universities has led to the implementation of three versions of HPC clouds that will provide academic researchers with quick and unbureaucratic on-demand access to scalable HPC compute resources.

The first version, Hybrid Clouds, are a local ‘on-site’ cluster configured to support the use of Penguin-on-Demand (POD) cloud resources as needed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Initial capital expense is lowered and excess cycles are provided for temporary workload peaks by Penguin’s public HPC cloud. Examples of hybrid cloud deployments include the University of Delaware and Memphis University.

The second, Channel Partnerships between universities and Penguin Computing, enable educational institutions to become distributors for POD compute cycles. University departments with limited access to compute resources for research can use Penguin’s virtual supercomputer on-demand and pay-as-they-go, allowing them to use their IT budget for operational expenses. This model has been successfully implemented at the California Institute for Technology in conjunction with Penguin’s PODshell, a web service-based solution that supports the submission and monitoring of HPC cloud compute jobs from any Linux system with internet connectivity.

The final version is the Combination Hybrid/Channel. The benefits of the first two models have been successfully implemented at Indiana University (IU) as a public-private partnership. Penguin utilises the university’s HPC facilities and human resources, while IU benefits from fast access to local compute resources and Penguin’s HPC experience. The POD collocation offers access through the high-speed national research network internet2 and is integrated with the XSEDE infrastructure that enables scientists to transparently share computing resources. 

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