HPC Systems for Weather Modeling

By marketing@site-a.com

Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) data is the form of weather modeling data that most professionals and consumers are most familiar with. NWP takes current observations of weather measurements and utilizes this data to create weather forecasts. Many systems assisting researchers in ingesting, analyzing, and storing this data do so with the help of weather modeling applications like Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF).

Weather Modeling and Forecasting Process

Weather forecasters utilize mathematical equations that factor in the physics behind the variables that influence weather – solar radiation, orbital distance from the sun, pressure, wind, temperature, and moisture – among others. These observations are obtained from sensors or satellites and then fed into the equations in a process that’s referred to as data assimilation. This data is then fed into a few different slots that assist in the process of specifying weather for future points.

There are three primary used synoptics forecast models: The North American Mesoscale Model (NAM), the Global Forecast System (GFS), and the Nested Grid Model (NGM).

North American Mesoscale Model (NAM)

The NAM model refers to a numerical weather prediction model run by National Centers for Environmental Prediction for short-term weather forecasting. Currently, the Weather Research and Forecasting Non-hydrostatic Mesoscale Model (WRF-NMM) model is run as the NAM, thus, three names (NAM, WRF, or NMM) typically refer to the same model output. 

Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)

The WRF model is a mesoscale numerical weather prediction system for both operational forecasting and atmospheric research objectives. WRF was developed through the partnerships of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL), the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA), the Naval Research Laboratory, Oklahoma University and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

WRF offers two dynamical solvers for its computation of the atmospheric governing equations:  WRF-ARW (Advanced Research WRF) and WRF-NMM (nonhydrostatic mesoscale model). ARW is supported to the community by the NCAR Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Laboratory. NMM is supported to the community by the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC).

Global Forecast System (GFS)

The GFS is a weather forecast model that is produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). This model produces a dataset that allows for dozens of atmospheric and land-soil variables to be accessed and considered in the forecasting of weather, like temperature, wind, precipitation, soil moisture, and atmospheric ozone concentration.

The entire globe is covered by the GFS with a base horizontal resolution of 18 miles between grid points, which is used by forecasters to predict weather for out to 16 days in the future.

Hardware Recommendations

  • RAM: Determines maximum model size (DOF, degrees of freedom) that can be solved. Typically large amount of memory per processor core (4 GB+ per processor core) are the standard.
  • CPU: number of cores and clock speed determines how quickly a model can be solved. (Good metric to compare between CPU options is: Clock Speed x Number of Cores / Cost.  Higher clock speeds and large core counts enable larger weather models to be run at higher resolutions.
  • Storage: determines how much data can be held on the system, and how quickly it can be input/read.
  • GPU: Speed up complex solutions. NVIDA GPUs are often utilized.
  • Interconnects: Enables high speed cluster communication and lower latencies.  100 Gb / sec network fabrics from Intel (Omnipath) and Mellanox (Infiniband) are typically a standard in weather modeling HPC environments.

High resolution models like those mentioned above required massive amounts of computing power, along with expertise and experience. That capability comes from our HPC cluster, the PowerWulf ZXR1+. At PSSC Labs, we provide our clients with the partner they need in systems design, manufacturing, and installation of custom-built HPC hardware, built to ensure that your weather model performs exactly as you’ve designed it to. We focus on providing an ultra-reliable, extreme-scale platforms for your needs.

Government agencies, public utilities, and research organizations rely on our expertise to realize their goals for mitigating and managing risk associated with severe weather and the effects of climate change.

Why Would the U.S. Consider a TikTok Ban?

By marketing@site-a.com

Every month in the United States, 30 million mostly young users of the social media app TikTok spend an average of 46 minutes a day, viewing 37 billion videos. The app is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, exceeding monthly downloads of major apps like Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.

Companies have been quick to realize the marketing potential of such a captive audience. Unfortunately, the app is getting attention for another reason. The Trump administration is considering a ban on the app. Why? TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based internet technology company. U.S. intelligence agencies believe the app may compromise user data. When asked about the app, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview that people should only download the app “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” Specifically, the U.S. alleges that the company could be compelled to “support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.”

The TikTok clamor comes on the heels of other U.S. efforts to block the use of technology developed in China on the grounds of national security. In 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ban on the use of telecom equipment from designated adversary states, including China. The ban was meant to “protect America from foreign adversaries who are actively and increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology infrastructure and services.”

While the order did not include specific companies or countries, it effectively applied to 5G telecom equipment providers Huawei and ZTE. At about the same time, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce placed Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and its affiliates on the Bureau’s Entity List. Being on the list means such foreign-owned entities cannot use American technology.  

Concerns about backdoors into systems and other malicious activities are not unfounded. In October 2018, Bloomberg reported that some motherboards made by Supermicro had malicious components that were used to spy or interfere with the operation of the board. These motherboards were found on servers used by leading tech companies like Amazon and Apple, but Supermicro is certainly not the only company to manufacture components in China. Dell, HPE, Lenovo, and others have done so, and many still do.

U.S. Manufacturing is Key for Security

Many companies have manufactured products in China to cut costs. But are they doing so at the expense of compromised security?

PSSC Labs offers solutions for those who want a secure option. PSSC Labs is a U.S.-based company incorporated in California. PSSC Labs’ mission is to bring a superior level of service and support to a commodity-based industry. PSSC Labs offers an alternative to the traditional computer company by focusing on problem-solving using open source software and commodity hardware.

All manufacturing, integration, and support is performed in California by U.S. citizens in a secure location. PSSC Labs has a 25-year history working with federal agencies – from the Department of Defense and NASA to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institutes of Health. 

Servers used by these agencies need to be able to perform high-performance computing, streaming analytics, and other compute- and data-intensive operations. The agencies need full control over their own data, especially regarding governance, security, and performance. PSSC Labs solutions deliver these capabilities.

As an American manufacturer, PSSC Labs provides a security level and trust that other foreign manufacturers simply lack. Solutions like its CyberRax Data Flow Pipeline, servers, and HPC clusters can be purchased via several contract vehicles, including GSA, CHESS, and NETCENTS. PSSC

PSSC Labs is already working closely with Department of Defense agencies to help them achieve their operational mandate to ingest and direct data from disparate sources, all with the required security provisions out of the box. We know that government servers need to be 100% operational at all times, without sacrificing speed, analytics, or security, which is why the PSSC Labs team of engineers is available for support for your system’s lifetime.  

HPC Systems for Computational Fluid Dynamics

By marketing@site-a.com

Note: This information was gathered by CFD software and service provider Resolved Analytics and shared on our website for the consumption of our audience, many of which work primarily in the CFD space.

CFD software is a processing tool used by engineers to analyze and solve problems involving fluid flows. CFD is used to simulate aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, weather analysis, heat transfer, engine combustion, etc. The more complex the problem, the more computational power needed to solve these problems. Open source software is available (OpenFOAM), however, licensed software (ANSYS Fluent, Siemens Star CCM+) offers more user-friendly interface, reliable simulation results, and support.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the analysis of fluid flows using numerical solution methods. Using CFD, engineers analyze complex problems involving fluid-fluid, fluid-solid or fluid-gas interaction. Engineering fields where CFD analyses are frequently used are aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, where quantities such as lift and drag or field properties as pressures and velocities are obtained. Fluid dynamics is involved with physical laws in the form of partial differential equations. Sophisticated CFD solvers transform these laws into algebraical equations and efficiently solve these equations numerically.

Stages of CFD

Pre-processing

The first step in CFD modeling, which starts with describing the geometry of the object being worked with, usually imported from a CAD drawing. The process of creating the environment in which the object will be simulated is broken into smaller, more manageable segments, known as meshing. Meshing can be handled in different ways, but ultimately, creates the fluid conditions in which the object in question will be simulated in.

Solving

The second step is the solving of the problem, once the physics problem has been identified, the environment has been meshed, and boundary conditions set, the solver processes this information and proceeds to run all the calculations necessary to solve the problem. There are multiple solvers available, varying in efficiency and capability of solving certain physical phenomena. (ANSYS FLUENT, Star CCM+, CFD++, OpenFOAM)

Post-processing

Finally, the results are visualized and analyzed in the post processing phase. At this stage the results and conclusions can be drawn based on the results of the solver. Results are presented in many different forms: static or moving pictures, graphs or tables.

Ansys Fluent:

Pros: powerful, efficient and validated numerical methods, full suite of physics and multiphysics capabilities

Cons: requirement for standalone software for pre-processing (SpaceClaim, only supported on Windows OS) and superior post-processing (Ensight), cost

  • Workflow: new “Watertight Workflow”, one only needs to use SpaceClaim (in place of Design Modeler) and then bring the geometry directly into Fluent for native meshing.
  • Physics Modeling:
  • If there is some sort of physics phenomena that isn’t built in and available, Fluent supports the use of user codes called UDF’s (User Defined Functions), which are fully customizable scripts that allow you to tap or “hook” into the flow variables in order to model the physics/behavior at each computational cell.
  • new hybrid Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) to Discrete Phase Model (DPM) that is used for spray nozzle simulations.
  • CAD Cleanup and Meshing: “Watertight Workflow”, This tree structure guides you from top to bottom as you import geometry, add meshing parameters, label boundaries and zones/regions, and create surface and volume meshes.
  • Meshing:
  • process is now straightforward, and the workflow guides the user though the remaining effort. the “preview” of the mesh size that allows the user to see how small/large the computation cells will be before anything is meshed. This can save a lot of time that could otherwise be wasted by meshing a geometry with too coarse or too fine of a grid.
  • new Mosaic meshing technology, also called “poly-hexcore”, this mesh type is showing an improvement in total cell counts for similar (or boosted) accuracy when compared to polyhedral alone (which increases speed). Compared to the polyhedral mesh, the poly-hexcore mesh had ~10% fewer cells in total.
  • improvement in meshing time from 3 minutes (on 4 cores) for the poly-hexcore compared to ~13.5 minutes for the corresponding all-polyhedra mesh. This speedup (~4.5x) could save major time for generating larger, more complex meshes.
  • Simulation: Test cases available, allow the user to verify that the software performs according to documentation and to provide the user with confidence that it can adequately solve various physics problems within tolerable levels of accuracy.
  • Post Processing: Ensight able to show both solid FEA model results as well as fluid CFD cases and can be quite impressive for analyzing and animating fluid-body-interaction data.

Siemens Star CCM+

Pros: powerful, efficient and validated numerical methods, full suite of physics and multiphysics capabilities, streamlined workflow and ease-of-use, post-processing

Cons: still looking 

  • Interface: Users can access all pre-processing, simulation, and post-processing tasks within single interface.
  • Physics Modeling: comes with a database of common materials in categories of solid, liquid, gas, and electrochemical species and a wide range of turbulence modeling options. A finite element solver has been added recently that allows basic solid mechanics modeling.
  • Clean Up & Meshing: Makes the process of importing, repairing, defining and meshing your CAD parts about as painless as it can be. Overall mesh generation is handled well.
  • Post Processing:
  • STAR-CCM+ provides the most striking and intuitive flow visualization techniques among all leading CFD software packages and which are comparatively easy to use.
  • Offers VR, opportunity to move around inside a simulation result which has the potential to provide more useful insight
  • Offers screenplay, the animation recording is no longer constrained by a single visualization and, instead, visualizations can dynamically change throughout the recording.
  • Simulation: STAR-Test, internal test system, the user has the opportunity to verify that the software received is able to reproduce the same results on the platform you are using (verification) while also providing an understanding of the accuracy to be expected when modeling specific physics use cases (validation). Only multiphysics simulation tool that has achieved ASME Nuclear Quality Assurance – 1 compliance.
  • Summary: makes lives of engineers easier by providing a full-suite of multi-physics capabilities, a streamlined workflow within a modern java based interface, best-in-class meshing capabilities and insightful, meaningful and impressive post-processing without the prerequisite of obtaining a Ph. D. in programming.

OpenFOAM (Open Source)

Pros:

  • Freely licensed, cost effective as user demand increases. Widely distributed, so its reliable and accurate as a result of being scrutinized and improved by large group of diverse developers, motivated to ensure code performs well.
  • If user has the skill and desire, they can add to the functionality through additional coding.

Cons:

– steep learning curve

– limited user support

– increased cost of ownership relating to reduced usability

– lack of specialized capabilities

– requirement of additional software including pre and post processors.

5 General CFD Categories:

Open Source: OpenFOAM is the most widely used open source CFD software.

Pros:

– Freely licensed, cost effective as user demand increases. Widely distributed, so its reliable and accurate as a result of being scrutinized and improved by large group of diverse developers, motivated to ensure code performs well.

– If user has the skill and desire, they can add to the functionality through additional coding.

Cons:

– steep learning curve

– limited user support

– increased cost of ownership relating to reduced usability

– lack of specialized capabilities

– requirement of additional software including pre and post processors.

Open Source Wrappers: Open source software such as OpenFOAM, with friendly user GUI (Graphical User Interface) environments bundled in such as: Visual-CFD, HELYX and simFlow. SimScale (cloud, web browser-based simulation) offers convenience of single interface, but suffer from separation between user and the execution code.

  • Pros: some convenience of full service commercial platform at much lower price
  • Cons: same limitations of open source; i.e. limited user support, lack of specialized capabilities, while adding another layer of software with its own potential for bugs.

CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) Integrated: Most widely used are SolidWorks and AutoDesk Inventor, are CFD add-ons within 3-D solid modeling platforms. Marketed towards product designers seeking to solve steady-state, single phase, non-reacting flow problems, with focus on ease of use.

Specialty: specialized functionality.

  • Converge is a multipurpose code, high sophistication in regards to moving meshes, multiphase flows and turbulent combustion as needed for focus in: automotive, internal combustion. (AVL Fire, also for automotive)
  • 6sigma: for datacenter ventilation.
  • EXA for aerodynamics
  • CFX for turbo machinery
  • New: EXN/Aero focus on improving performance on very large scale simulations through combined use of CPU and GPU processing, until purchased by JUUL e-cig maker.

Comprehensive Packages: Gold standard for CFD is ANSYS Fluent and Siemen Star-CCM+. Fluent seems to capture more market share in electronic and industrial product markets while Star-CCM+ in the aerospace, automotive and energy industries. Software such as COMSOL’s CFD Module and Altair’s AcuSolve are components of broader Multiphysics simulation platforms, now growing in scope and marketshare. Primary drawback of these packages is the cost.

  • Capability to import complex 3D solid and surface geometries from diverse sources.
  • All in one workflow, including pre-processing, solving and post-processing.
  • Broad multi-physics simulation capabilities.
  • Efficient data architectures, numerical methods and utilization of diverse hardware and software configurations.
  • Vendor initiated verification and validation of physics and numerical methods.
  • Limited requirements for user-coding and/or command line operations.

CAD embedded CFD:

CAD embedded into CFD software is touted as being a game changer, however, mostly overhyped. CAD software can easily be imported into CFD programs so there is no need to have them in the same interface.

CFD Applications

SolidWorks Flow Simulation: add on to SolidWorks CAD software, considered the “most CAD embedded” CFD program in its class.

Fluid volumes extracted for CFD analysis and boundary conditions needed for CFD simulation are linked directly to the native 3D CAD geometry surfaces eliminating the necessity of redefining the model setups when experimenting with simple CAD geometry changes.

Marketed as solution to “designers” working in industrial and electronics, those without experience in fluid dynamics, numerical analysis and CFD.

3D CAD cleanup and prep work is similar to that which you would find if exporting to a neutral file format for export to standalone CFD software.

Complicated, production-ready CAD models will need to simipified by suppressing details unnecessary to fluid-flow analysis, and combining common solids to eliminate unnecessary surface to surface interfaces.

The “check model” tool and “CAD cleanup” tool are useful as the can catch and repair some simple issues, but often require significant user intervention to troubleshoot problematic geometries and then repair in the native CAD environment.

Meshing in this program attempts to simplify the process by limiting user input, but ultimately results in average to poor quality, and is unable to benefit from multicore architectures.

Simulating in SolidWorks Flow uses a Finite Volume solver which has been found to be inefficient, compared to Finite Element methods. In a comparison, SolidWorks Flow required 4 – 100 times longer to perform simulation compared to ANSYS fluent while returning less accurate results (for lift and drag).

Autodesk CFD: Though not technically CAD embedded as it requires another application to launch from within the Inventor or Fusion 360 workspace.

Marketed toward industries serving electronics and architecture, given the other architecture related software that Autodesk has.

Convenient in that when CFD is launched form CAD program, it can push 3D models directly into CFD and automatically assigns settings from CAD so you can introduce new CAD design variations with ease. Can sometimes run into difficulties.

When importing CAD models directly into CFD, a toolkit can be activated to analyze the 3D model for model health, identifying: slivers, gaps and interfaces, but only identifies. Use needs to go back to original CAD program to make adjustments to CAD models.

Meshing is messy but possible.

Autodesk CFD is somewhat of outlier as it uses finite element solver, which results in less accurate and less efficient than finite volume solver. Autodesk CFD finite element solver is significantly slower than finite volume solvers.

ANSYS Discovery Live:  mesh less solver, similar to the Lattice Boltzman solvers, where GPU acceleration of coarse-lattice simulations can be run very quickly. This is how Hollywood studios have produced amazing life like fluid effects on large scales for years.

ANSYS is usually known for highly accurate, time consuming simulations. This was first release that made CFD most accessible where designers can seem immediate, real time impacts of design changes.

If ANSYS continues to improve upon this platform, it can result in solving fine lattice results, meaning more accurate real time results in unsteady flow environments, as opposed to highly calculated pre-preped environment that are planned in advance.

OpenFOAM: Common open source CFD solvers (besides OpenFOAM): SU2, Palabos, Fire Dynamics Simulator, MFIX.

Gained considerable credibility by growing user base: universities and corporations, Mercedes Benz, BASF, BMW, Volkswagen, Intel.

Coded in C++ instead of Fortran, to take advantage of object oriented abilities.

Linux based, or if running through Microsoft Windows, need to run through virtual machine. Or you can run Linux Bash Shell within windows. Or can run through a “containerized” environment, via Docker technology.

Strengths:

  • Many capabilities and multiple solvers that can be applied to numerous types of flow problems
  • Product has been developed and refined over 20 years, by experts specializing in solving CFD problems.
  • Advantages of wide user base, tutorials, and example problems, as well as ability to customize the code base to user liking.
  • Increased acceptance in academia and industry.
  • FREE!!

Drawbacks:

  • Steep learning curve, need for advanced user experience in determining what important physics to solve and how to best match those physics with numerical algorithms.
  • Need for Linux based OS, or version for Windows that lacks native capabilities/utilities. Need knowledge of Linux commands for file manipulation.
  • Lack of high performance built in meshing utility.
  • Need to learn additional post-processing software package.
  • Extra time required to setup and analyze model results due to disconnected work flow as compared to workflow optimized commercial software solutions that feature All-in-one packages for pre-processing, solve, post-processing.

COMSOL Multiphysics: Extremely user friendly, well designed GUI, limited capabilities.

originally partnered with US based Mathworks as European distributor of MATLAB, leading to developing their own software FEMLAB that expanded the capabilities MATLAB in solving partial differential equations.

Eventually they developed their own finite element based meshing and solving routines (FEMLAB).

In 2005, FEMLAB became known as COMSOL Multiphysics, utilizing GUI with MATLAB like programming interface.

Mainly marketed towards research in academia, more recently, COMSOL is attempting to make steps towards making it more useful to engineers.

HARDWARE RECOMMENDATIONS:

Main components to consider, in order of priority:

  • RAM: Determines maximum model size (DOF, degrees of freedom) that can be solved.
  • CPU: number of cores and clock speed determines how quickly a model can be solved. (Good metric to compare between CPU options is: Clock Speed x Number of Cores / Cost
  • Storage: determines how much data can be held on the system, and how quickly it can be input/read.
  • GPU: speed up complex solutions
  • Interconnects: enables high speed clustering

The Many Achievements of Black Americans in IT

By marketing@site-a.com

Amid the injustices going on in our world, we believe it’s important to speak up for Black Americans everywhere. As an organization that actively condemns racism and oppression of people of color, we’d like to take this moment to call attention to the many trailblazing advancements made by Black Americans, particularly in the Information Technology space.

Technological advancements impact how we do everything – from how we pay our bills to how we access entertainment, which means that the exceptional accomplishments of those within the IT space have the ability to shape our world. Below is just a peek into the many Black Americans that have shaped our world for the better.

Jessica Matthews, Uncharted Power

At the ripe age of 22, Matthews created SOCCKET, a soccer ball that produced kinetic energy during play. This energy could be used to power a lamp, a call phone, any many other devices. Her invention allowed for African countries with limited access to electricity to still harness kinetic energy to power devices during sporadic blackouts.

Matthews now serves as CEO as Uncharted Power, “an energy and data technology firm that produces infrastructure solutions for communities, facilities, and the Internet of Things (IoT).” Uncharted Power has developed several kinetic energy-generating vehicles and more that serve major corporations and government entities located in African countries. Matthews work has catapulted the ability for many countries to access renewable energy. For this work and more, Matthews was named Black Enterprise Innovator of the Year in 2013.

Corey E. Thomas, Rapid7

Thomas holds the titles of President and CEO of Rapid7, which is a go-to for many companies looking to detect, deter and prevent cyberattacks. The platform ingests data from a company’s entire networking environment to allow for monitoring of potential weaknesses and threats. Thomas has successfully positioned Rapid7, and cybersecurity altogether, as something that companies need to prioritize, rather than allow to be an afterthought. Thomas has secured contracts for Rapid7’s cybersecurity services for major corporations, like Microsoft, Macy’s, Netflix, and many more.

Charley Moore, Rocket Lawyer

Moore, a former internet law and business attorney for a high-powered Silicon Valley law firm, noticed that many small businesses needed and desired legal advice from professionals, but lacked the budget to hire a lawyer. That’s when Moore created Rocket Lawyer, an online platform for those seeking affordable legal advice. They can help with pretty much any legal need, from creating legal documents, like non-disclosures, living wills, and lease agreements, to starting a business. Moore even had an “Ask a Lawyer” feature created that allows everyday users to get in contact with a lawyer when they have questions.

Moore’s work has transformed what it means to be a small business owner in the United States, allowing entrepreneurs access to the legal advice they need to establish, grow, and nurture their businesses.

Charles E. Phillips, Infor Inc.

Phillips serves as CEO of Infor Inc., a multi-national enterprise software company, headquartered in New York City, United States. He’s lead Infor Inc. to it’s most profitable state, doubling the company’s revenue to $2.7 billion since 2010.  This is the first major software company to offer an integrated, end-to-end application suite for entire industries – making them the true leaders in their space. Phillips has been named one of the Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America by Black Enterprise and has spent his professional years transforming technology companies into the powerhouses they are now.

This list could go one for miles, as there is no shortage of intelligent and hardworking Black Americans in our world. At PSSC Labs, we’re happy to celebrate the many accomplishments of Black Americans in the IT space, as their work, expertise, and intelligence dramatically shapes and betters our world each day.

On Premise Kubernetes Brings Cloud Benefits to the Data Center

By marketing@site-a.com

Many organizations are adopting cloud-native approaches based on Kubernetes for application development to support digital transformation efforts and to accommodate the rapid development and deployment times needed to stay competitive today.

At the heart of most efforts is a micro-services architecture. As opposed to all-encompassing monolithic applications of old, modern applications are comprised of loosely coupled entities. Such an architecture allows great flexibility in that elements may be quickly added or updated without needing to rewrite or rework the entire application. For example, a financial services firm may enhance its fraud detection capabilities by adding an artificial intelligence-based real-time anomaly detection to existing practices.

Proof of the success of such an approach to application development and deployment is seen in the rapid adoption rate of containers, in general, and Kubernetes, in particular. Businesses are well beyond the experimental and investigative stages. An industry survey by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in 2019, 84% of respondents were using containers in production, a jump of more than 15% from 2018. The use of Kubernetes has surged in that time. In 2019, 78% of respondents were using Kubernetes in production, a huge jump from 58% the year before.

While most container deployments are on public cloud services, about 42% of businesses also are deploying containers on-premises and on private clouds. Two factors are driving the use of Kubernetes on-premises.

Driving Factors For the Use of On-Premise Kubernetes

First, Kubernetes helps on-premises data centers realize the benefits of cloud-native applications and infrastructure. Thus, a business can have a cloud-like environment that abstracts infrastructure away from the application stack. Just as is the case in a public cloud, this abstraction enables portability and the scalability that’s commonly associated with cloud-native applications.

Second, employing Kubernetes on-premises verses on a public cloud lets a business enforce security and data protection policies.

On-premises Solutions Options

Running container workloads comes down to hardware. Businesses need physical machines, with CPUs, memory, and local persistent storage. In addition, they need some shared persistent storage and networking element to hook up all the machines.

Kubernetes can be deployed on a bare-metal cluster or a cluster of virtual machines. Bare-metal instances are not as common. However, there are use cases where they offer advantages. For example, a network edge application might be too latency-sensitive to tolerate the overhead created by a VM. Or an application (such as machine learning) might need to run on GPUs or other hardware accelerators, which do not lend themselves to VMs.

A suitable system must be able to be dynamically provisioned by the users to handle different data workflows. Many businesses are looking for turnkey solutions that combine the needed processing, storage, memory, and interconnect technologies to provide either the bare metal or VM foundation for their container and microservices efforts.

Delivering such a solution requires expertise and real-world best practices across both HPC and container/Kubernetes domains, plus deep industry knowledge about the specific applications.

PSSC Labs has a more than 30 years history of delivering systems that meet the most demanding workloads across industries, government, and academia.

Its offerings include PowerServe Uniti Servers, which use the newest components from Intel® , AMD®  and Nvidia®. These servers are ideal for a wide range of applications, including AI and deep learning, as well as for computational and data analysis.

PSSC Labs also offers CloudOOP Big Data Servers that deliver the highest level of performance in an enterprise server with the cost-effectiveness of direct attach storage for Big Data applications. The servers deliver 200+ MB/sec sustained IO speeds per hard drive (which is 30%+ faster than other OEMs.)

While containers and Kubernetes on public clouds make sense for development and application testing, the use of the technologies brings many benefits when run on-premises. Data centers gain the efficiencies of cloud-like operations. And businesses have more control over security for production applications. PSSC Labs systems for Kubernetes can help a business realize both benefits.

What is VPAT and why does it matter?

By marketing@site-a.com

This term has been floating around the technology industry as of late, especially for organizations that desire to work with government agencies. The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, or VPAT, is a self-disclosing document provided by the vendor that evaluates how accessible a particular product is according to Section 508 Standards. A VPAT details each aspect of the Section 508 requirements and how the product may support each criteria.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that agencies buy, build, and use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that is accessible to people with disabilities, thus a company that wishes to do business with the Federal Government should test its ICT products or services offerings for accessibility based on the Section 508 technical standard, which can be found in the Accessibility Conformance Report.

Why was VPAT Created?

The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) was developed by the IT Industry Council as a way for companies to display their accessibility conformance findings, standard by standard. When a government agency receives this report, it may proceed with the procurement by evaluating options available and specific exceptions that may apply based on their own use case. Until a report is received, the government may not legally proceed with the evaluation of the product.

 A completed VPAT is your company’s report of the accessibility of your product. Your company reads each technical standard and evaluates your product to see if the standard is either fully supported, is not supported, or is not applicable.

For us, having an Accessibility Conformance Report or completed VPAT for the PSSC Labs PowerWulf ZXR1+ HPC Cluster is extremely significant. The VPAT enables NASA or any other Federal Agency to adhere to the Code of Federal Regulations and promotes accessibility and use by all of that agency’s capable workforce, in addition to swift acquisition. As many companies have not completed a VPAT for their supercomputer products, this achievement makes PSSC Labs a leader in our field for accessibility.

About PSSC Labs

For technology powered visionaries with a passion for challenging the status quo, PSSC Labs is the answer for hand-crafted HPC and Big Data computing solutions that deliver relentless performance with the absolute lowest total cost of ownership. We are true innovators offering high performance computing solutions to solve the world’s most demanding problems. For 25+ years, organizations of all sizes and from a variety of sectors rely on PSSC Labs’ computing systems. We are proud to support many departments within the United States government, Fortune 500 companies, as well as small and medium-sized businesses.

All products are designed and built at the company’s headquarters in Lake Forest, California.