RI: Mastodon: A Large-Memory, High-Throughput Simulation Infrastructure

RI：Mastodon：大内存、高吞吐量的模拟基础设施

• 批准号: 0303609
• 负责人: Risto Miikkulainen
• 金额: $ 144.53万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0303609&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RI; Mastodon; Large; Memory; Throughput

Digital simulation is becoming dominant in not only many fields of physical sciences, but computer science as well. Despite the great improvements in processing speed over the past decades, advanced research on large-scale systems requires simulation engines that are more powerful than the average desktop workstation.The Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin will assemble an infrastructure for performing large-scale, memory-intensive simulations. Called Mastodon, this infrastructure will consist of a large number of rack-mounted Linux/x86 servers, each with multiple processors and several gigabytes of physical memory. Leveraged by industrial and university matching funds, we anticipate scaling Mastodon to 418 processors and nearly a terabyte of DRAM. The cluster will utilize both distributed batch scheduling using the Condor job management software, as well as soft partitioning for timing and parallel experiments.This infrastructure will service the needs of a majority of our department's faculty. The projects utilizing Mastodon include the areas of systems (specifically, architecture, compilers, and run-time systems), network algorithms, computational biology, multi-agent robotics, and formal verification. In each of these areas, Mastodon makes multiple projects feasible, whereas with conventional computing infrastructure, most of these projects cannot even be attempted.Broader Impact: This unparalleled simulation resource will be made available to a broader community as well, including students attending summer camps to increase female enrollment in computer science, undergraduates for both educational class project and research use, and researchers in regional departments with insufficient resources to perform high-end simulations.

数字模拟不仅在许多物理科学领域，而且在计算机科学领域都占主导地位。 尽管在过去几十年中的处理速度方面有了很大的提高，但对大型系统的高级研究需要模拟引擎，这些模拟引擎比普通台式机工作站更强大。德克萨斯州奥斯汀分校的计算机科学系将组装一个基础架构，用于执行大型内存，内存大量的模拟。 该基础架构称为Mastodon，将由大量机架安装的Linux/X86服务器组成，每个服务器都有多个处理器和几GB的物理内存。通过工业和大学匹配资金的利用，我们预计将Mastodon扩展到418个处理器，几乎是DRAM的Terabyte。 该集群将使用Condor Job Management软件使用分布式批处理计划，以及用于定时和并行实验的软分区。此基础架构将满足我们部门大多数教职员工的需求。 利用Mastodon的项目包括系统区域（特别是体系结构，编译器和运行时系统），网络算法，计算生物学，多机构机器人技术和正式验证。 In each of these areas, Mastodon makes multiple projects feasible, whereas with conventional computing infrastructure, most of these projects cannot even be attempted.Broader Impact: This unparalleled simulation resource will be made available to a broader community as well, including students attending summer camps to increase female enrollment in computer science, undergraduates for both educational class project and research use, and researchers in regional departments with insufficient resources to perform high-end模拟。