ARCHER News

Tuesday 14th April 2020

• ARCHER2 Overview: A Service for Users - Webinar
• Introduction to the ARCHER2 hardware and software - Webinar
• Reproducible computational environments using containers
• Other upcoming ARCHER training
• HPC-Europa3 Transnational Access programme

Please note: we will be moving the regular user mailing publication from Tuesday afternoons to Wednesday mornings from next week.

ARCHER2 Overview: A Service for Users

Wednesday 15th April 2020 15:00-16:00 BST

Overview of the ARCHER2 Service Provision (SP) and Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) services

Lorna Smith and Alan Simpson EPCC

The ARCHER2 Service is a world class advanced computing resource for UK researchers. The Service is provided by UKRI, EPCC, Cray (an HPE company) and the University of Edinburgh.

EPCC will run the Service Provision (SP) and Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) services. The purpose of this tutorial is to give an overview of both these services, explaining how they will be run, how they differ from the current ARCHER SP and CSE services and how we aim to meet the needs of the user community.

The first of a series of tutorials, this tutorial will provide a high-level overview of the different functions in the service including the eCSE programme, the training programme, user support, outreach and in-depth support. Over the next few weeks further, more in-depth tutorials, will take place for each of these functions.

The tutorial will not cover the hardware of the ARCHER2 service, this will be covered by a tutorial on the 22nd April.

This online session is open to all

Join link and full details : https://www.archer2.ac.uk/training/courses/200415-archer2-overview/

Introduction to the ARCHER2 hardware and software

Wednesday 22nd April 2020 11:00-12:00 BST

Andy Turner, EPCC/ARCHER2

In this webinar we will give an overview of the technology that will make up the ARCHER2 national supercomputing service: based on the new Cray Shasta technology, with AMD EPYC processors and the Cray Slingshot interconnect. This will cover the main Cray Shasta system itself as well as other associated parts of the service. We will also provide information on the software environment that will be available on the system, including the Cray software environment and the initial plans for software provided by the ARCHER2 CSE service at EPCC. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions although we will not necessarily be able to answer all of them, as we do not have access to the system yet.

This online session is open to all.

Join link and full details : https://www.archer2.ac.uk/training/courses/200422-archer2-hardware/

Reproducible computational environments using containers

13-14 July 2020 - Online

This course aims to introduce the use of containers with the goal of using them to effect reproducible computational environments. Such environments are useful for ensuring reproducible research outputs and for simplifying the setup of complex software dependencies across different systems. The course will mostly be based around the use of Docker containers but the material will be of use for whatever container technology you plan to, or end up, using. We will also briefly introduce the Singularity container environment which is compatible with Docker and designed for use on multi-user systems (such as HPC resources).

On completion of this course attendees should:

• Understand what containers are and what they are used for
• Understand how to manage and create Docker containers
• Appreciate decisions that need to be made around containerising research workflows
• Understand the differences between Docker and Singularity containers and why Singularity is more suitable for multi-user systems (e.g. HPC)
• Understand how to manage and create Singularity containers
• Appreciate how containers can be used to enable and improve reproducibility in research

Registration and full details - https://www.archer2.ac.uk/training/courses/200713-containers/

Other upcoming ARCHER2 Training

• Oracle Cloud HPC benchmarking results, Online, Wednesday 29th April 2020 11:00 BST
• The determination of clusters structures combining infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, Online, Wednesday 20th May 2020 15:00 BST
• Reproducible computational environments using containers, Online, 13-14 July 2020

Further details https://www.archer2.ac.uk/training/#upcoming-training

HPC-Europa3 Transnational Access programme

Collaborative research visits using High Performance Computing

Call for applications: next closing date 14th May 2020, for visits during the second half of 2020.

HPC-Europa3 funds research visits for computational scientists in any discipline which can use High Performance Computing (HPC).

Visits can be made to research institutes in Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain or the UK.

UK-based researchers can benefit in two ways: either by visiting a research group elsewhere in Europe, or by hosting a research visitor from another country.

Coronavirus travel restrictions: Applicants will be notified of the selection panel’s decisions around the end of June. We hope that the travel situation should be returning to normal by this time. Visits should be planned for July to December, but there can be some flexibility if there are continuing restrictions on travel at that stage.

What does HPC-Europa3 provide?

• Funding for travel, living and accommodation expenses for visits of up to 13 weeks.
• Access to world-class High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities.
• Technical support to help you make best use of the HPC systems.
• Collaborative environment with an expert in your field of research.

Who can apply?

• Researchers of all levels, from postgraduate to full professors.
• Researchers from academia or industry.
• Researchers currently working in a European Union country or Associated State (see http://bit.ly/AssociatedStates for full list of Associated States).
• Researchers may not visit a group in the country where they currently work.
• A small number of places may be available for researchers working outside these countries - please contact staff@hpc-europa.org for more information.

How do I apply?

Apply online at http://www.hpc-europa.org

The next closing date is 14th May 2020. Closing dates are held 4 times per year. Applications can be submitted at any time. You should receive a decision approximately 6 weeks after the closing date.

For more information and to apply online, visit: http://www.hpc-europa.org/
Follow us on Twitter for project news: https://twitter.com/HPCEuropa3