High Performance Computing Overview

Study Notes

HPC refers to aggregating computing power to achieve higher performance than typical desktops/workstations. This allows for solving large problems in science, engineering, and business.

Growth in Data Generation: Data is doubling or increasing exponentially. Variety, volume, and velocity of data are multiplying demands on computing resources.
Complex Simulations and Modeling: Fields like climate science, physics, and bioinformatics require sophisticated models demanding substantial computing power.
Limitations of Single-Core Processors: Modern processors can't handle the computational demands of complex simulations.
Cost and Power/Heat Limitations: Creating faster processors is often limited by cost, power consumption, and heat generation.
Memory Limitations: Putting vast amounts of memory on a single processor can be expensive.

Only one instruction is executed at a time.
Instructions are processed sequentially.
This is a slower way of processing complex tasks compared to parallel processing.

A method of computation using multiple calculations simultaneously.
Large problems are divided into smaller problems and processed at the same time, speeding up the process.

Space Science: Astrophysics, Astronomy
Earth Science: Geological structures, water resource modeling, seismic exploration
Atmospheric Science: Climate and weather forecasting, air quality
Life Science: Drug design, genome sequencing, protein folding
Nuclear Science: Nuclear power, nuclear medicine, defence
Nano Science: Semiconductor physics, microfabrication, molecular biology, new materials exploration

Crash Simulation: Automobile and mechanical engineering
Aerodynamics Simulation & Aircraft Designing: Aeronautics and mechanical engineering
Structural Analysis: Civil engineering and architecture

Increased Complexity of Content: High resolution images (e.g., 4K, 8K) and complex visual effects demand more processing power.
Complex Effects: Advanced visual effects (VFX) and rendering techniques require heavy computations.
Real-Time Rendering: Enables gaming and VR experiences, producing realistic physics simulations.
Large Data Processing: Managing large datasets like video files and 3D models.