The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis
The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis
Workshop:SC21 SuperCompCloud: 5th International Workshop on Interoperability of Supercomputing and Cloud Technologies
Authors: Gabriel Antoniu (French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA))
Abstract: Modern use cases such as autonomous vehicles, digital twins, smart buildings and precision agriculture, greatly increase the complexity of application workflows. They typically combine physics-based simulations, analysis of large data volumes and machine learning and require a hybrid execution infrastructure: edge devices create streams of input data, which are processed by data analytics and machine learning applications in the Cloud, and simulations on large, specialized HPC systems provide insights into and prediction of future system state. All of these steps pose different requirements for the best suited execution platforms, and they need to be connected in an efficient and secure way. This assembly is called the Computing Continuum (CC). It raises challenges at multiple levels: at the application level, innovative algorithms are needed to bridge simulations, machine learning and data-driven analytics; at the middleware level, adequate tools must enable efficient deployment, scheduling and orchestration of the workflow components across the whole distributed infrastructure; and, finally, a capable resource management system must allocate a suitable set of components of the infrastructure to run the application workflow, preferably in a dynamic and adaptive way, taking into account the specific capabilities of each component of the underlying heterogeneous infrastructure. This talk introduces TCI - the Transcontinuum Initiative - a European multidisciplinary collaborative action aiming to identify the related gaps for both hardware and software infrastructures to build CC use cases, with the ultimate goal of accelerating scientific discovery, improving timeliness, quality and sustainability of engineering artifacts, and supporting decisions in complex and potentially urgent situations.