Sankalchand Patel College of Engineering

Sankalchand Patel College of Engineering

Sankalchand Patel University

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Super Computers

Super Computers for Academic Research

Introduction:

Param Shavak machine PARAM Shavak – solution, aims to provide computational resources (Capacity building) with advanced technologies to perform high-end computations for scientific, engineering and academic programs to address and catalyze the research using modeling, simulation and data analysis. This initiative is expected to create HPC-aware skilled workforce (Capability building) and for promoting research by integrating leading-edge emerging technologies at grass root level. As the scope and complexity of computational needs continue to increase at colleges/ universities, professors and administrators are compelled to seek appropriate and affordable solutions. PARAM Shavak provides the computing power necessary to keep academic institutions on the leading edge in today’s competitive market at affordable cost. This system is meant for research academic institutions that are on the verge of adopting HPC culture in their institutions/university. Besides a handful of value additions, the system comes with most of the features that can be found in a full blown HPC clusters job schedulers, compilers, parallel libraries, mpi, resource managers, some of the commonly used HPC applications in engineering scientific domains etc.

In order to promote research and development programs GUJCOST has facilitated establishment of Supercomputer Facility PARAM Shavak developed by C-DAC at Sankalchand Patel University. This is a state-of-the-art computing facility in Deep Learning, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. The Supercomputer platform offers end-to-end solutions for high-performance computing /deep learning starting from the latest hardware, GPU Accelerated software development environment, application support, training and tutorials to the young students and academic researchers who have innovative ideas to satisfy the needs of the end users.

The supercomputer facility aims to provide capacity building among students and faculties with advanced technologies to perform high-end computations in the field of engineering, pharmacy, science and other academic programs to address and catalyze the research using modelling, simulation and data analysis. The facility will also help in promoting research by integrating leading-edge emerging technologies at the grass root level.

The system consists of 2 multicore CPUs each with minimum 20 cores along with two number of accelerator cards. The entire configuration is available in a single server in a table top model. Regardless of the traditional HPC systems/supercomputers, this system does not require specific support infrastructure like precision air-conditioned environment, controlled humidity etc. Also, the accepted sound level is very less when compared to the traditional servers. This brings down the infrastructure cost of the system.

Specifications And Features

Processor :Intel® Xeon® Gold 6145 Processor
40 Independent central processing units in a single computing component
GPU: NVIDIA QUADRO RTX 5000
16GB of ultra-fast GDDR6 memory to hold large datasets
RAM: 96GB RAM
Storage: 16TB

Salient Features

  • Supercomputer in a Box system in a table top model
  • Powered with 2 multicore CPUs each with minimum 20 cores
  • 2 numbers of accelerator cards
  • 3 Tera-Flops peak computing power with 16 TB of storage
  • Easy to deploy solution with no additional data center infrastructure
  • Pre-loaded with parallel programming development tools and libraries
  • Pre Installed tools for scheduling and resource management
  • Video Tutorials, learning materials and user manuals etc.
  • Indigenous HPC portal- CHReME
  • Indigenous applications interface – Onama

     Built-in HPC Applications

  • Bioinformatics: mpiBLAST
  • High-Performance Computational Chemistry: NWChem
  • Molecular Dynamics: GROMACS
  • Quantum Chemistry: NWChem, ABINIT
  • CFD: Open FOAM
  • Atmospheric and Ocean Modeling: WRF, MOM
  • Materials Science: Quantum Espresso
  • Atomistic Simulations of Solid State: CP2K
  • Parallel Particle Simulator: LAMMPS
  • Parallel Molecular Dynamics Code for large biomolecular systems: NAMD

User Eligibility

  • Individuals from the categories listed below are eligible to use the System:
  1. Sankalchand Patel University employees and full-time personnel in equivalent positions who are engaged in research work or project work.
  2. A person, working in managerial capacity, who is not employed in the university but involved in research and development activity in the university, can use the supercomputer facility as per the requirements of the research work.
  3. Persons, other than those listed in (ii) above, working as supervisors, PIs, Co-PIs, Team Leaders, Unit Leaders can use the system as per their requirements for carrying out research .
  4. An individual, whose participation in any research and development project under the collaboration with Sankalchand Patel University employees supervisor(s).
  5. An individual, other than those belonging to any of the four categories above, has to take permission from the IT Department, SPU to access the supercomputer facility.
  6. Lab can permit bonafide users to use supercomputer (carrying out research work in other GUJCOST sponsored projects or other projects of the institute or nearby institutes).

Access Request Applications

In order to access the Supercomputer facility:

Individual(s) must appoint a Project Representative, as stipulated in the SPU Supercomputer System Summary of Operations.

The user must fill up and submit a pre-described form to access the facility  through the Guide/HOD/Dean/Principal.(The access and close form will be available with Co Ordinator in hard copy format).

Approval

Once the user completes all the formalities, Co ordinator will send the details to the IT Department of SPU.

Upon receipt of the application and completion of scrutiny by Guide/Hod/Dean/Principal the IT Department will issue user ID/Password to the User to access the supercomputer by mail and will also notify the Coordinator of applicant status by mail.

By using Param Shavak Supercomputer, you agree to abide by the following rules/policies.

Prohibition Of Diversion Of IDs

i. Users must manage their user ID, passwords and private keys securely and take adequate measures to prevent their fraudulent use.

ii. Users are not allowed to use their project IDs and user IDs for any purpose. Allowing any third party to use allotted IDs is strictly forbidden.

Prohibited Activities

 Users are prohibited from using the System in any of the following ways:
• For any purpose other than the allocated research work.
• For any project other than that for which the user received approval from Supercomputer Lab according to the provisions of Article Approval.
• For any other use which violates security policies and guidelines of Supercomputer Lab

Submission Of Research Papers & Reports

 i. In all research papers published / presented or projects based on the application/usage of Supercomputer, the authors should mention acknowledgement of support in the name of GUJCOST and Department of Science and Technology, Govt of Gujarat. The project coordinator has to submit a copy of such published papers to the Coordinator.
ii. Ownership of results using the System obtained through a user’s initiative will reside with the user but they have to acknowledge GUJCOST in their report and have to submit one copy of the report to the Coordinator.
iii. The Coordinator may request that users submit reports of their findings/results and procedures when using the System. When requested for submission of reports, users must submit a report to the Coordinator.

 

General Policy

  • The use of the Param Shavak Supercomputer is restricted for academic and research purposes only. It must NOT be used in relation to any commercial activities, consultancy services, illegal or unethical practices, etc.
  • Users shall cite the use of Param Shavak Supercomputer in their published paper.
  • Do not run any computationally intensive jobs on the Param Shavak Supercomputer.
  • Do not over allocate parallel jobs. Make certain that your job uses the number of processors that you have requested or reserved.
  • Do not run highly experimental code that might compromise the usability of the master nodes, the network fabric, any of the compute nodes, or the shared storage system.
  • Users are responsible for using the Param Shavak Supercomputer system, resources and facilities in an efficient, effective, ethical and lawful manner.
  • Users are requested to report any weaknesses in Param Shavak Supercomputer security, and incidents of possible misuse or violation of the account policies to the HPC administrators (network.it@spu.ac.in).
  • Users shall not purposely engage in activities to circumvent Param Shavak Supercomputer security or system administrative measures.
  • Users shall not make copies of system configuration files (e.g. the password file) for unauthorized personal use nor to provide them for other people/users.
  • Users shall not download, install or run security programs or utilities which reveal weaknesses in the security of the Param Shavak Supercomputer
  • Users shall not attempt to access any data or programs contained on the Param Shavak Supercomputer for which they do not have authorization or explicit consent of the owner of the data/program.
 

Account Policy

  • Student/Faculty member/Researcher can avail the supercomputer computer facility after filling the (Form to avail Supercomputer Facility) and proper permission has been granted by the authorized person at various levels.
  • Initially students are given active account permission for 6 Months and for faculty members/scholar/researcher for 1 Year. It can be extended by revision at various levels and recommendation from faculty/guide/dean/principal.
  • Every account holder on completion of their work on Param Shavak Supercomputer needs to submit account close form after taking backup of their work. Data/Backup will not be available once their account has been closed.
  • Users shall change password immediately after getting their account and then change password within every 4 months.
  • Users shall use strong passwords with:
    • At-least 10 characters.
    • Must include alphabets, numbers and special characters.
    • Must not be guessable, like date of birth, pet’s name, etc.
  • Users shall not share their Param Shavak Supercomputer account(s) with others. This includes sharing the password of the account, providing access via a .rhost entry, sharing their public keys, or other means of sharing.
 

Queue Policy

  • Users can run a total of 2 jobs across any queue (except for ‘serial’ and ‘gpu’ queue) at a time and queue 2 more.
  • In ‘gpu’ queue, users can run 2 jobs and queue 2 more. Jobs submitted in this queue do not count towards jobs submitted across any other queues.
  • In ‘serial’ queue, users can run 2 jobs and queue 4 more, but each job can only access one CPU. Jobs submitted in this queue do not count towards jobs submitted across any other queues.

Storage Policy

  • Only store data that will be used for computation. Do not use HPC’s high performance parallel file system as a means of backup for your data. Take the data out if you think you will no longer run computation on it. Or at-least compress your data that is currently not in use but you think will be used in future.
  • Users are currently granted a quota size of 2 GB.
  • Users data is subject to deletion 1 month after their account expiry. It is the responsibility of the user to take their data out or to take proper approval for extending their account from competent authority.
  • Data/Backup will not be available once their account has been closed.