A publication of the Advanced Simulation & Computing Division, NA-121.2, NNSA Defense Programs
September 2008
NA-ASC-500-08—Issue 8
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Maximizing Use of the ASC’s Purple Supercomputer
In the fall of 2005, the ASC Program appointed a team to formulate a governance model for allocating resources and scheduling the stockpile stewardship workload on ASC capability systems. Since October 2006, the ASC Purple capability system at Lawrence Livermore has successfully run as a national user facility using this model. The two primary objectives of the model are to ensure the capability system resources are allocated on a priority-driven basis according to program requirements and to use ASC capability systems for the large capability jobs for which they were designed and procured.
Capability systems’ resources are allocated by six-month duration work packages—Capability Computing Campaigns (CCC)—which consist of at least one major calculation needing a significant portion of the machine and related supporting jobs of smaller sizes. Every six months, a new call for proposals is issued. ASC Program scientists submit their proposals, which are vetted through the tri-lab review process. The tri-lab Capability Planning Advisory Committee (CPAC) ranks proposed CCCs according to priorities of the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) and allocations are made following SSP priorities.
Within the constraints of meeting the two primary objectives, this model has effectively maximized use of the Purple machine, both by minimizing idle cycles and by enhancing the probability of productive and useful capability calculations.
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