Industries are being transformed by HPC! Learn how it Works and Benefits of HPC offers from resolving challenging issues to advancing AI, simulations, and big data.
What Is High Performance Computing?
Complex computational operations are processed in parallel as the foundation of high performance computing (HPC). Workloads are broken down into smaller jobs by an HPC system, which then distributes them among several resources for processing at once. Large workloads can be completed by HPC clusters more quickly and effectively than with a traditional compute paradigm to their parallel computing capabilities.
It is possible to design HPC systems to scale out or scale up. Scale-up designs divide a task so that multiple distinct processing cores can do it while maintaining the task within a single system. Optimising the utilisation of a single server is the aim of a scale-up architecture. Scale-out designs also break tasks into smaller, more manageable parts that are spread across multiple servers.
Why Is HPC Important?
There is nothing new about high performance computing. Supercomputers and HPC workstations have long been essential to scholarly study, helping to solve challenging issues and inspire new ideas.
Weather forecasting, oil and gas exploration, physics, quantum mechanics, and other fields in both academic and commercial applications are just a few of the many use cases for which scientists, engineers, and researchers rely on HPC.
Compared to traditional computing, HPC’s parallel computing capabilities can significantly speed up iterative procedures. HPC can train deep learning models in hours instead of days. HPC is solving more problems as AI and big data become more mainstream and affordable, enabling widespread innovation.
How Does HPC works?
Although HPC can be operated on a single node, its true potential is realised when several HPC nodes are connected to form a cluster for parallel and supercomputing computing. Extreme-scale simulations, AI inferencing, and data analysis that might not be possible on a single system can be computed by HPC clusters.
Large-scale HPC clusters consisting of CPUs, accelerators, high-speed communication fabric, and advanced memory and storage, modern supercomputers collaborate across nodes to avoid bottlenecks and provide optimal performance.
The design and efficiency of HPC clusters are enhanced by software tools, big data and deep learning optimised frameworks, and HPC platform software libraries.
What Are HPC Clusters?
A collection of distinct servers, referred to as nodes, that function as a single entity for parallel computing is known as an HPC cluster. A fast network connects HPC clusters, and software manages the distributed computing architecture. Large volumes of data and extremely complicated procedures can be handled quickly by HPC clusters because to their scalability.
Benefits Of HPC
Compared to conventional computing techniques, HPC can produce results more quickly and affordably by executing computationally demanding tasks across shared resources. A conventional computer system would frequently require an unfeasible or unrealistic amount of time to train an exceptionally sophisticated AI model or to solve a complicated calculation or simulation. HPC’s parallel architecture allows for processing efficiencies that can save hours or even days.
HPC technologies are becoming more widely available because to the growing availability of scalable, high-performance CPUs as well as high-speed, high-capacity memory, storage, and networking. Because of this, HPC is being utilised more and more in academic, business, and government contexts to solve complicated issues, evaluate large datasets, and come up with creative solutions.
Additionally, cloud-based resources help lower HPC costs. Scientists and engineers can scale up and out in the cloud or operate HPC workloads on-premises to reduce capital expense.
HPC Challenges
Although HPC systems have many advantages, they can also present certain difficulties. The systems themselves are frequently big, intricate, and costly since HPC is made to tackle complicated issues. High operational costs result from HPC systems’ large energy consumption and cooling needs as they grow to hundreds or thousands of processing cores. It can be difficult and expensive to hire a team of HPC experts to setup and maintain the system. Costs can occasionally be decreased by moving important HPC operations to the cloud.
Complex HPC systems and interdependent activities create security risks. HPC systems use large databases, including sensitive data, making them attractive targets for cybercrime and cyberespionage. Large user groups may also share HPC systems, which increases the systems’ susceptibilities. Access control is a necessary component of strict cybersecurity and data governance procedures to prevent the introduction of harmful programs or unauthorized users into the system.
High Performance Computing Examples
For simulation and modelling in a variety of applications, such as traffic safety, autonomous driving, product design and manufacturing, weather forecasting, seismic data analysis, and energy generation, research labs, governments, and corporations are depending more and more on high performance computing (HPC). Additionally, HPC systems support developments in computational fluid dynamics, fraud detection, financial risk assessment, precision medicine, and other fields.
HPC and AI
Researchers and engineers can push the limits of AI and deep learning applications to HPC AI, which offers the parallel computing infrastructure needed to power sophisticated AI algorithms.
HPC in Financial Services
In addition to managing ever-larger and more complicated data sets to enable near-real-time market analysis and options pricing, transaction monitoring, and fraud detection, HPC can facilitate the use of AI in financial services.
HPC in the Automotive Industry
HPC systems facilitate simulation and testing for new car models, as well as computer-aided design and engineering. HPC systems are also necessary for the iterative training of AI models in the continuous development of self-driving cars.
HPC in Healthcare and Life Sciences
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to find and test new biopharmaceutical treatments, while HPC and AI technologies speed up and streamline genomic analysis to assist precision medicine.
HPC in Government
HPC is used by research labs, universities, and public sector organisations to speed up automation, discovery, and data-driven decision-making.
HPC in Cybersecurity
AI-enabled cybersecurity solution improvements powered by HPC help shield enterprises, their systems, customers, and data against ever-more-sophisticated cyberattacks.
Future of HPC
It is anticipated that HPC technologies will spur creativity and productivity for companies and government organizations of all sizes as HPC hardware and software continue to become more widely available and affordable in the data centre and cloud. Additionally, HPC supercomputers are about to exceed exascale boundaries, expanding their ability to tackle ever-more-difficult problems.
Although quantum computing is currently in its very early stages of development, HPC systems may eventually use it to achieve previously unheard-of processing power. The ability of systems to address our most difficult engineering, scientific, and artificial intelligence-related problems will grow along with the capability of HPC processing.
