There is an increasing need for scientists/researchers in the United States who are knowledgeable about cluster computing; however, there are few opportunities offered at geographically remote locations to acquire this knowledge easily. Interested faculty and graduate students throughout the EPSCoR states are building their own clusters--ranging from small (8 nodes) to large (128 nodes)--and teaching themselves as they proceed; this is a slow process.
The Linux Cluster Workshop will increase the research and development competitiveness of EPSCoR states by enabling computational scientists and engineers todevelop applications that achieve maximum performance and scalability on Linux clusters of all sizes; system administrators will learn about issues related to the administration of Linux clusters in support of secure, reliable, and high-performance computing.
Prospective users of Linux clusters will find the workshops to be a detailed and informative introduction to the process of configuring, acquiring, and using Linux clusters. LCI technical materials highlight the information that scientific application developers and systems administrators need but cannot readily find elsewhere.
This workshop will further the ambitious outreach and education efforts of the WESNet group of seven western EPSCoR states that have been collaborating in an effort to introduce EPSCoR researchers to high-performance cluster computing activities. This will be one more step to optimally exploit our national talent for science and engineering and develop excellent centers of research and learning in every state in the nation. Students trained on these clusters will be better prepared to assume the role of computational scientists in high-performance computing upon graduation.
The Linux Cluster workshop will promote high-performance computing among a diverse group of EPSCoR researchers in a long-term effort to stimulate new collaborations and scientific research opportunities. The home states of these individuals will be more competitive in terms of securing new research funding and providing intellectual and computational assistance to private sector activities.
