Simulation and Visualization interprets data from complex simulations and calculations and presents the results as intelligible information that the human eye and brain can more easily understand. Simulation and Visualization is used in a wide range of industries as diverse as architecture, entertainment, and engineering and in an array of scientific research disciplines. From simulated temperature gradients changing in the core of a distant star over time to the expected turbulence dynamics of an airplane wing through changing weather, and deeply buried stresses on skyscrapers during large-magnitude earthquakes, visualization clearly reveals what large data sets bury within them.
Technology Challenges of Simulation and Visualization Solutions
The more detailed and larger the volume of data, the greater potential of higher-resolution imagery and the more informative the simulation and visualization can be. With the growing data sets used in various disciplines, excellent image fidelity can be drawn from the massive data volumes. But, the limitations of today’s graphics processors make visualizing such large datasets a challenge. Additionally, users want their simulations and visualization to be interactive. They can then study what-if scenarios by modifying parameters during computation and see the visual result in real time to gain greater insights. Such interactivity can significantly slow down a visualization system, especially with very large datasets. Until recently, dedicated interactive solutions have failed to strike an adequate balance among performance, visual fidelity, and cost. Rasterization techniques on graphics-specific hardware can accelerate rendering of smaller 3D models but do so at the expense of higher fidelity. Ray tracing techniques offer the highest fidelity for simulations and visualizations, but the performance of ray tracing algorithms on graphics hardware has been an impediment. The inherent raster-focused architecture of graphics processing units (GPUs), along with their limited memory and input/output (I/O), fail to deliver adequate performance for ray tracing algorithms.
MEGWARE - A Trusted Intel® Partner
MEGWARE plans, designs, delivers, and installs entire cluster solutions - racks, servers, PDUs, network equipment, storage, software, etc. - at the customer’s site. From academia to industrial clients who want to have a full-service package, including premium level support over multiple years, MEGWARE brings long-standing expertise.
In addition, MEGWARE offers its own hardware and software components for optimized HPC performance and management, such as MEGWARE ColdCon® technology for direct liquid cooling, SlideSX® server chassis, and ClustWare® management software, among others. This makes MEGWARE solutions unique in their efficiency, manageability and, ultimately, helps to reduce total cost of ownership.
Inside MEGWARE’s Simulation and Visualization Solution
The MEGWARE Simulation and Visualization platform comprises several key hardware and software components. Component choices deliver optimized performance for compute and visualization applications. Supportability is also addressed with the inclusion of Intel® Cluster Checker, which provides expert systems advice for administrators to use in keeping a cluster functioning.
The tables below list the basic hardware configuration of MEGWARE’s platform for Intel Select Solutions for Simulation and Visualization. The configuration can easily be expanded to meet even more demanding computational tasks.
INGREDIENT | CONFIGURATION OF THE MASTER NODE |
---|---|
PLATFORM | MEGWARE MiriQuid® Master Node |
PROCESSOR | 2 x Intel® Xeon® Gold 6230R processors at 2.10 GHz, 26 cores/52 threads |
MEMORY | 192 GB (12 x 16 GB 2933 MHz DDR4) 4 GB memory per processor core and all memory channels populated |
BOOT DRIVE | 240 GB Intel® SSD D3-S4510 |
DATA DRIVE | 4 x 4 TB Intel® SSD DC P4510 |
RAID CONTROLLER FOR DATA DRIVES | Intel® Virtual RAID on CPU (Intel® VROC) |
MESSAGE FABRIC | 1x Intel® Omni-Path single-port PCIe 3.0 x16 adapter with 100Gbps |
MANAGEMENT FABRIC | Integrated 1 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) |
SOFTWARE | Linux operating system (RHEL, CentOS, SLES) Intel® Rendering Framework libraries Intel® Parallel Studio XE Cluster Edition Intel® Cluster Checker MEGWARE ClustWare® |
INGREDIENT | CONFIGURATION OF THE COMPUTE NODE |
---|---|
PLATFORM | MEGWARE MiriQuid® Compute Node |
PROCESSOR | 2 x Intel® Xeon® Gold 6230R processors at 2.10 GHz, 26 cores/52 threads |
MEMORY | 192 GB (12 x 16 GB 2933 MHz DDR4) 4 GB memory per processor core and all memory channels populated |
BOOT DRIVE | 240 GB Intel® SSD DC D3-S4510 |
MESSAGE FABRIC | 1x Intel® Omni-Path single-port PCIe 3.0 x16 adapter with 100Gbps |
COOLING | 1. Standard air cooling |