DICE: Data Intensive Computing Environment

Real Testing * Real Data * Real Results

DICE Program Bolsters Participation at Supercomputing ‘10

SC10 logo

We’re Making It Easy in “The Big Easy”

November 13-19, 2010
Ernest N. Moriale Convention Center
New Orleans, LA

The DICE Program had a very successful visit to SC10. We showcased a Sandbox research project in conjunction with NASA Goddard, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and SCinet. We presented a DICE Case Study at the Exhibitor Forum and we hosted a Birds-of-a-Feather session to discuss Parallel File Systems benchmarking data. Thank you to everyone who visited our newly redesigned booth at SC10!

PARTICIPATE & COLLABORATE at SC10

DICE Booth with Live SCinet SANDBOX Demonstration

Monday-Thursday, November 15 –18
Booth #1149

Click here for more information on the Sandbox project.
Click here to request a copy of the Sandbox Final Report.

The DICE Booth showcased the latest DICE projects, capabilities and research.  SC10 participants were able to get a first-hand look at a live SCinet “Sandbox” demonstration in conjunction with NASA Goddard, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and SCinet. Testing included WAN file system testing and file transfers utilizing Obsidian ES Encryptors over 10 GbE links from the remote sites to the SC2010 show floor.  This project was an extension of the existing Obsidian evaluation DICE is undergoing in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories.

BOF "Parallel File Systems Benchmarking Update"

Birds of Feather (BOF) Session
Tuesday, November 16
5:30-7:00 pm

Click here for the BOF meeting notes.

The HPC community expressed an interest in a comprehensive study of parallel file systems in an effort to develop a public domain test suite for performance measurement and validation, particularly between different architectures. This project also includes an effort to develop a normalization factor between those architectures. Results will be gathered utilizing the test suite on smaller systems first and then compared to systems of larger size with appropriately scaled file systems. The DICE Program, in conjunction with the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, is currently engaged in a project to develop a comprehensive benchmarking framework for evaluating file systems. The team also seeks to develop a normalization factor between different file system architectures. Join your peers and engage in a meaningful dialogue because HPC community involvement is key to providing a viable tool and understanding all the factors for an accurate comparison, especially for file systems at large scale.

Exhibitor Forum DICE Case Study

Exhibitor Forum
Wednesday, November 17
11:30 am-12:00 pm    

Learn more about the DICE Program and how we are accelerating innovations and results in HPC data intensive management with our one-of-a-kind independent, third party testing and technology research. During our Exhibitors Forum, we will explore important questions like, “How data centers are dealing with power and cooling challenges?” “What is the true cost of correcting problems after deployment?” With internal testing, how do you mirror the real production environment of diverse, geographically distributed data centers? A report from the Systems Sciences Institute at IBM states that the cost to fix an error found after product release was four to five times as much as one uncovered during design, and up to 100 times more than one identified in the maintenance phase. Can our community afford this? Please join us at the DICE Exhibitor’s Forum to learn more and explore answers to these critical questions.

SC10 Press Releases

DICE-SCinet Research Sandbox Investigation of Effective Encrypted Data Movement at Supercomputing Conference
December 3, 2010
At the Supercomputing 2010 (SC10) conference that took place November 16-18, 2010, Avetec’s DICE program, through partnership with government, academic and HPC vendors, demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of applications and file systems using Obsidian Strategics’ Longbow™ InfiniBand range-extension. 

SCinet Research Sandbox to Demonstrate Unprecedented HPC Industry Collaboration
November 2, 2010
At the Supercomputing 2010 (SC10) conference, Avetec’s DICE program will demonstrate through collaboration with government, academic and HPC vendors the performance and effectiveness of applications and file systems utilizing InfiniBand over the, real-world wide-area networks (WAN).

Near Perfect Use of a 10GE WAN with Longbow Encryption Fully Enabled
October 27, 2010
Dr. DK Panda, professor of computer science with The Ohio State University's Department of Computer Sciences, has released preliminary study results that show significant advancement in researchers' ability to send high performance computing data with Obsidian's Longbow(tm) InfiniBand range-extension, routing and encryption products.

Team Will Demonstrate Encrypted Data Movement Between HPC Clusters at SC‘10
October 5, 2010
Avetec's Data Intensive Computing Environment (DICE), along with its partner, Obsidian Strategics, the makers of the Longbow™ InfiniBand range-extension, routing and encryption products, will conduct a Sandbox (System Area Network Demonstration) of encrypted data movement between high performance computing clusters during the November Supercomputing 2010 Conference (SC10) in New Orleans.

Sneak Peek into The SCinet Sandbox
October 4, 2010
Avetec is taking part in the DICE program’s Sandbox project at SC10 in New Orleans this year along with several national labs and companies who want to demonstrate the potential of using geographically distributed Infiniband clusters in a common Infiniband mesh so clusters can interoperate to share messages and send data back and forth.

DICE Partners with Obsidian Strategics for Secure Large-Scale Data Migration Study
July 22, 2010
Avetec’s Data Intensive Computing Environment (DICE) Program has partnered with Obsidian Strategics, Inc., maker of Longbow™ InfiniBand range-extension, routing and encryption products, to study the effectiveness and efficiency of Longbow E100 devices for encrypted data movement between high performance computing clusters using a file-level data migration tool called 'dsync.'