1. Architecture of a platform for innovation and research Erik Deumens – University of Florida SC15 – Austin – Nov 17, 2015

2. Executive summary Research vs. enterprise needs Horizontal vs. vertical architecture Provision vs. build process Nov 17, 2015 2

3. Research – Innovation Research and innovation need – Unpredictable configurations – Unpredictable demand for performance – Agility and responsiveness – High level of customization for small groups – Protect users from each other – Cost effective solutions Nov 17, 2015 3

4. Enterprise – Stability Enterprise services need – Stability of service – Support documented use cases – Large number of users – Careful change management – Cost effective solutions Nov 17, 2015 4

5. Horizontal architecture History: – Computing started this way 1960: IBM, CDC, Cray – Mini computer 1970: DEC – Personal computer 1980: IBM PC, Apple II Example: – Mainframe – Supercomputer Nov 17, 2015 5

6. Horizontal architecture (2) Single system Highly integrated components High speed components – CPU, RAM, disk, network, interconnect Many users run many applications (stacks) Nov 17, 2015 6

7. Vertical architecture History: – IBM PC 1980: dedicate systems to one application – Netware and Ethernet – SUN Microsystems 1990: “network is computer” – Virtualization allowed dramatic decrease in cost Example: – Cloud – *aaS Nov 17, 2015 7

8. Vertical architecture (2) Application (stack) -> host (HA cluster) System composed from virtual components – Hosts <- VM platform – Storage <- SAN or NAS – Network <- VLAN Performance tuned to projected demand Many users run the same stack Nov 17, 2015 8

9. Cost effective Both architectures are cost effective for their mission – Meet the specific requirements – Scale with demand – Leverage existing technologies Nov 17, 2015 9

10. Cost: Innovation - Horizontal Horizontal system runs – Large variety of applications for many users – Each application serving small groups – Too expensive to build a vertical for each application System is designed to meet big range of performance needs => cost effective Nov 17, 2015 10

11. Cost: Stability – Vertical One vertical slice runs – The application is precisely characterized – Serves large numbers of users – Can be configured and precisely tuned System is designed to deliver targeted performance goals => cost effective Nov 17, 2015 11

12. Process: Provision Agility requires simple process Provide researchers with quick – Provision vs. custom build and maintain Change management – Users: Standard pre-approved changes – System: Maintaining the system uses Develop, test, deploy process Nov 17, 2015 12

13. Process: Build Stability requires careful review Changes to the application – Develop, test, deploy Change management – System: administrators need approval for changes – Users: adding users is simple all use the same application And one or more of the supported use cases Nov 17, 2015 13

14. Current HPC systems HPC systems are clusters At the core of multiple auxiliary servers – Login, data transfer, interactive, – visualization, development, test nodes – Web servers – Portals and science gateways (Galaxy) – Database servers Nov 17, 2015 14

15. Current HPC systems (2) Storage systems – Fast parallel files system – Secondary, archival storage Fast interconnect: InfiniBand One or more Ethernet networks Managed as a tightly coupled coherent system Nov 17, 2015 15

16. Current HPC systems (3) Have horizontal architecture not vertical architecture Nov 17, 2015 16

17. IT Service Management Vertical architected system (e.g. HR systems) – 10,000 users 100 use cases 1 application (stack) 100 user / use case – Tier 1, tier 2, tier 3 service support has effective distribution of work Nov 17, 2015 17

18. IT Service Management (2) Horizontal architected system (e.g. research) – 1,000 users 100 applications (stacks) 100 use cases per supplication 0.1 user / use case – Statistics too low to build good use-case documentation – Majority of requests & incidents engage Tier 3 Nov 17, 2015 18

19. Comparison Horizontal – Many applications – Moderate user base – Custom service – Provision systems – Small user base per use case – Agility – Rapid pace – Cost effective Vertical – Few applications – Large user base – Standard service – Build systems – Large user base per use case – Stability – Slow pace – Cost effective

20. Questions? Nov 17, 2015 20