# NERSC Weekly Email, Week of June 7, 2021 <a name="top"></a> # ## Contents ## - [Summary of Upcoming Events and Key Dates](#dates) ## [NERSC Status](#section1) ## - [NERSC Operations Continue, with Minimal Changes](#curtailment) ## [This Week's Events and Deadlines](#section2) ## - [IDEAS-ECP Webinar on Using the PSIP Toolkit on Wednesday](#ecpwebinar) - [Introducing Appentra Parallelware Office Hours this Wednesday, June 9](#parallelware) - [Crash Course in Supercomputing, this Friday, June 11](#crashcourse) ## [Perlmutter](#section3) ## - [Perlmutter Machine Status](#perlmutter) - [(NEW) Perlmutter Availability Access Plan](#pmaccess) ## [Updates at NERSC ](#section4) ## - [Cori Operating System Upgrade & New Default Enivronment Coming in August or September](#osupgrade) - [Cori "Compile" Queue Now Available to All Users](#compileq) - [NERSC Electrical Systems Maintenance Weekend of July 10](#mvsgmaint) - [(NEW) New NERSC Appointments on Checkpoint/Restart Now Available!](#appointments) - [Preparation Work for Community File System Expansion Ongoing](#cfsupdate) ## [Calls for Participation](#section5) ## - [Call for Papers: Parallel Applications Workshop, Alternatives to MPI+X](#pawatm) ## [Upcoming Training Events ](#section6) ## - [Training on Lmod, New Module Environment for Perlmutter, June 22](#lmodtrain) - [(NEW) CUDA Multithreading with Streams Training, July 16](#custreams) ## [NERSC News ](#section7) ## - [No New "NERSC User News" Podcast this Week](#nopodcast) - [Come Work for NERSC!](#careers) - [Upcoming Outages](#outages) - [About this Email](#about) ## Summary of Upcoming Events and Key Dates <a name="dates"/></a> ## June 2021 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 *9**10**11* 12 9 Jun Parallelware Office Hrs [1] 9 Jun IDEAS-ECP Monthly Webinar [2] 10 Jun SpinUp Workshop [3] 11 Jun Crash Course in Supercomputing [4] 13 14 15 *16* 17 18 19 16 Jun Cori Monthly Maint Window [5] 20 21 *22* 23 24 25 26 22 Jun Lmod for Perlmutter Training [6] 27 28 29 30 July 2021 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 *5* 6 7 8 *9--10- 5 Jul Independence Day Holiday [7] 9-12 Jul Electrical Maintenance [8] -11--12* 13 14 15 *16* 17 16 Jul CUDA Training [9] 18 19 20 *21* 22 *23* 24 21 Jul Cori Monthly Maint Window [5] 23 Jul PAW-ATM Submissions Due [10] 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 August 2021 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 *18**19* 20 21 18 Aug Cori Monthly Maint Window [5] 19 Aug SpinUp Workshop [11] 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1. **June 9, 2021**: [Parallelware Office Hours](#parallelware) 2. **June 9, 2021**: [IDEAS-ECP Monthly Webinar](#ecpwebinar) 3. **June 10, 2021**: [SpinUp Workshop](#spinup) 4. **June 11, 2021**: [Crash Course in Supercomputing](#crashcourse) 5. **June 16, July 21, & August 18, 2021**: Cori Monthly Maintenance Window 6. **June 22, 2021**: [Lmod for Perlmutter Training](#lmodtrain) 7. **July 5, 2021**: Independence Day Holiday (No Consulting or Account Support) 8. **July 9-12, 2021**: [NERSC building electrical maintenance (approximate dates)](#mvsgmaint) 9. **July 16, 2021**: [NVIDIA CUDA Training on CUDA Streams](#custreams) 10. **July 23, 2021**: [PAW-ATM Workshop](#pawatm) Submissions close 11. **August 19, 2021**: SpinUp Workshop 12. All times are **Pacific Time zone** - **Upcoming Planned Outage Dates** (see [Outages section](#outages) for more details) - **June 9, 2021**: HPSS Archive (User) - **June 16, 2021**: Cori, Globus - **Other Significant Dates** - **June 25, 2021**: [PERMAVOST Workshop](https://permavost.github.io/) - **July 19 & 26-28, 2021**: NERSC GPU Hackathon - **August 1-13, 2021**: Argonne Training Program on Extreme-Scale Computing - **September 15, 2021**: Cori Monthly Maintenance Window - **August 18 or September 15, 2021**: [Upgrade to Cori Operating System](#osupgrade) - **October 14 & December 9, 2021**: SpinUp Workshops - **September 6, 2021**: Labor Day Holiday (No Consulting or Account Support) - **September 7, 2021**: Second Allocation Reduction Date - **October 20, November 17, & December 15, 2021**: Cori Monthly Maintenance Window - **November 25-26, 2021**: Thanksgiving Holiday (No Consulting or Account Support) - **December 24, 2021 - January 3, 2022**: Winter Shutdown (Limited Consulting and Account Support) ([back to top](#top)) --- ## NERSC Status <a name="section1"/></a> ## ### NERSC Operations Continue, with Minimal Changes <a name="curtailment"/></a> Alameda County, California, where NERSC is located, remains under public health order restrictions through June 14. Upon the June 15 reopening of the California economy, we do not anticipate substantial changes to our operations, as we must continue to balance local, state, and Department of Energy safety requirements. NERSC continues to remain open while following site-specific protection plans. We remain in operation as before, with the majority of NERSC staff working remotely for the foreseeable future, and only staff essential to operations onsite. You can continue to expect regular online consulting and account support but no telephone support. Trainings will continue to be held online, or postponed if online is infeasible. Regular maintenances on the systems will continue to be performed while minimizing onsite staff presence, which could result in longer downtimes than would occur under normal circumstances. Because onsite staffing is so minimal, we request that you continue to refrain from calling NERSC Operations except to report urgent system issues. For **current NERSC systems status**, please see the online [MOTD](https://www.nersc.gov/live-status/motd/) and [current known issues](https://docs.nersc.gov/current/) webpages. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## This Week's Events and Deadlines <a name="section2"/></a> ## ### IDEAS-ECP Webinar on Using the PSIP Toolkit on Wednesday <a name="ecpwebinar"/></a> The next webinar in the [Best Practices for HPC Software Developers](http://ideas-productivity.org/events/hpc-best-practices-webinars/) series is entitled "Using the PSIP Toolkit to Achieve your Goals -- A Case study at The HDF Group", and will take place **this Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 10:00 am Pacific time.** This webinar, presented by Elena Pourmal (The HDF Group), Reed Milewicz (Sandia National Labs), and Elsa Gonsiorowski (Lawrence Livermore National Lab), will provide an overview of the PSIP methodology and toolkit, and describe how the HDF5 Group used PSIP to make improvements in three key areas of their software development process. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Please register [here](https://www.exascaleproject.org/event/psip4hdf/). ### Introducing Appentra Parallelware Office Hours this Wednesday, June 9 <a name="parallelware"/></a> [Appentra](https://www.appentra.com) produces the Parallelware tools, aimed at helping software developers build better quality parallel software in less time. The [Parallelware Analyzer]() tool detects and helps to fix defects related to parallelism with OpenMP and OpenACC, and identifies opportunities for OpenMP/OpenACC parallelization on CPUs and GPUs. [Parallelware Trainer]() is an Integrated Development Environment designed to facilitate the learning, usage, and implementation of OpenMP/OpenACC parallel programming, along with the ability to test the performance improvements of particular parallel implementations. NERSC has offered trainings on using these tools in [2019](https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/parallelware-tool-workshop-october-17/) and [2020](https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/parallelware-training-series-oct-nov-2020/). Now Appentra staff are back at NERSC for virtual office hours, to be held **this Wednesday, June 9, from 9 am to noon (Pacific time)**. Users who are interested in getting started or who have already used the tools but have questions are invited to drop in at any time during the event. For more information please see the event webpage at <https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/parallelware-office-hours-june-9-2021/> and [add the event to your calendar](https://calendar.google.com/event?action=TEMPLATE&tmeid=N3EydWEzOTh2OGk5YmEydXFjbjFkOXEwZWUgbGJsLmdvdl9sczBnZHRnaTdiOTNqcmVkbGVzMGlibDB1NEBn&tmsrc=lbl.gov_ls0gdtgi7b93jredles0ibl0u4%40group.calendar.google.com). ### Crash Course in Supercomputing, this Friday, June 11 <a name="crashcourse"/></a> NERSC invites those with an interest in or just beginning to write parallel programs to join our one-day Crash Course in Supercomputing **this Friday, June 11.** The course will be held from **10 am to noon and 1-3 pm (Pacific time).** In this two-part course, students will learn to write parallel programs that can be run on a supercomputer. We begin by discussing the concepts of parallelization before introducing MPI and OpenMP, the two leading parallel programming libraries. Finally, the students will put together all the concepts from the class by programming, compiling, and running a parallel code on one of the NERSC supercomputers. Training accounts will be provided for students who have not yet set up a NERSC account. For more information and to register, please see <https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/crash-course-supercomputing-june-2021/>. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Perlmutter <a name="section3"/></a> ## ### Perlmutter Machine Status <a name="perlmutter"/></a> The initial phase of the Perlmutter supercomputer is in the NERSC machine room, assembled, and booting. We continue configuring and testing the machine. NERSC staff are in the beginning stages of setting up the software environment. Some test jobs with real user applications are being run. Preliminary [Perlmutter Documentation](https://docs.nersc.gov/systems/perlmutter/) is under development. As we progress, this newsletter item will be updated. ### (NEW) Perlmutter Availability Access Plan <a name="pmaccess"/></a> Perlmutter is currently unavailable to users. We do not have a set date for allowing the first wave of users onto the machine, but when the machine is suitable for its first users, we will add users in stages. The order of access is outlined at <https://docs.nersc.gov/systems/perlmutter/#access>. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Updates at NERSC <a name="section4"/></a> ## ### Cori Operating System Upgrade & New Default Enivronment Coming in August or September <a name="osupgrade"/></a> To continue to be in compliance with minimum requirements for support from HPE/Cray, NERSC will perform a minor version upgrade to the operating system on Cori later this year. The upgrade itself is currently expected to take only one day, but we will analyze the required steps further, and may extend the estimate if necessary. At the same time, we will also **update the default user programming environment** on Cori for the first time since January, 2020. The precise CDT version we will install is still to be determined. We expect that the changes to the operating system and default programming environment will at a minimum require users to relink all statically compiled codes, and NERSC plans to update all NERSC-supported software to be compatible with the new operating system and CDT at that time. The precise date of the upgrade is also still to be determined, but we expect that it will be performed during one of the regular monthly maintenance periods in August or September. ### Cori "Compile" Queue Now Available to All Users <a name="compileq"/></a> The "compile" QOS on Cori is now open to all users! The [compile QOS](https://docs.nersc.gov/jobs/policy/#compile) is intended for workflows that regularly compile codes from source, e.g., DevOps models leveraging Continuous Integration. There is a single Cori Haswell node allocated to compile QOS jobs, and there is no charge for these jobs. ### NERSC Electrical Systems Maintenance Weekend of July 10 <a name="mvsgmaint"/></a> NERSC will have an electrical-systems maintenance the weekend of July 10. The medium-voltage switchgear that transforms power from transmission voltage to usable voltage will undergo a required inspection and maintenance. This means that **nearly all NERSC resources will be unavailable during the maintenance.** The medium-voltage switchgear maintenance itself is scheduled for July 10, and NERSC may perform additional maintenance tasks while everything is already down. More details will be provided as we create a more detailed schedule. ### (NEW) New NERSC Appointments on Checkpoint/Restart Now Available! <a name="appointments"/></a> NERSC provides 25-minute appointments with user support consultants on a range of topics. In addition to the already existing NERSC 101, KNL Optimization, Containers, File Systems, GPU Basics, and Using GPUs in Python categories, we now offer **Checkpoint/Restart**, for advice on using checkpoint/restart with MANA to allow flexible run times. For more information on appointments, please see <https://docs.nersc.gov/help/#appointments-with-nersc-user-support-staff>. Appointments can be scheduled at <https://nersc.as.me/schedule.php>. ### Preparation Work for Community File System Expansion Ongoing <a name="cfsupdate"/></a> The Community File System will be expanded later this year. As part of this process, a behind-the-scenes data migration is taking place to new hardware. We don't anticipate much performance impact, but wanted to share this news with users. Stay tuned for more updates about this expansion as we advance to the next steps later this year. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Calls for Participation <a name="section5"/></a> ## ### Call for Papers: Parallel Applications Workshop, Alternatives to MPI+X <a name="pawatm"/></a> The Parallel Applications Workshop, Alternatives to MPI+X (PAW-ATM) is seeking full-length papers and extended abstracts for the workshop to be held in conjunction with SC21 in St. Louis, Missouri in mid-November. PAW-ATM is a forum for discussing HPC applications written in alternatives to MPI+X. These alternatives include new languages (e.g., Chapel, Regent, XcalableMP), frameworks for large-scale data science (e.g., Arkouda, Dask, Spark), and extensions to existing languages (e.g., Charm++, COMPSs, Fortran, Legion, UPC++). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: - Novel application development using high-level parallel programming languages and frameworks. - Examples that demonstrate performance, compiler optimization, error checking, and reduced software complexity. - Applications from artificial intelligence, data analytics, bioinformatics, and other novel areas. - Performance evaluation of applications developed using alternatives to MPI+X and comparisons to standard programming models. - Novel algorithms enabled by high-level parallel abstractions. - Experience with the use of new compilers and runtime environments. - Libraries using or supporting alternatives to MPI+X. - Benefits of hardware abstraction and data locality on algorithm implementation. Submissions close **July 23, 2021**. For more information and to submit a paper, please visit: <https://sourceryinstitute.github.io/PAW/>. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## Upcoming Training Events <a name="section6"/></a> ## ### Training on Lmod, New Module Environment for Perlmutter, June 22 <a name="lmodtrain"/></a> Lmod is a Lua-based module system, with more features than the traditional TCL-based module system. The new Perlmutter system will use Lmod as the primary interface for interacting with module files. NERSC is offering a hands-on Lmod training on **Tuesday, June 22, from 10 am-noon (Pacific time)**. This trianing will walk users through the new features and usage of Lmod. For more information and to register, please see <https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/lmod-user-training/>. ### (NEW) CUDA Multithreading with Streams Training, July 16 <a name="custreams"/></a> As a continuation of last year's popular [CUDA Training Series](https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/cuda-training-series/), NVIDIA will present a session on "CUDA Multithreading with Streams" to NERSC and OLCF users on Friday, July 16, 2021, from 10 am to noon (Pacific time). CUDA streams are useful for achieving concurrency and ensuring an application is fully utilizing the GPU. However, many GPU-accelearated applications start off as multi-threaded CPU applications. In this module, we will explore the combination of GPU concurrency and a multi-threaded context, such as an OpenMP application. Following the presentation there will be a hands-on session for participants to complete example exercises to observe the impact of changes on application performance. NERSC will provide access to its Cori-GPU system for current NERSC users. Registration is required for remote participation. For more information and to register please see <https://www.nersc.gov/users/training/events/cuda-multithreading-with-streams-july-16-2021/>. ([back to top](#top)) --- ## NERSC News <a name="section7"/></a> ## ### No New "NERSC User News" Podcast this Week <a name="nopodcast"/></a> There will be no new episode of the "NERSC User News" podcast this week. We encourage you to instead enjoy some of our most recent episodes and greatest hits: - [NERSC 2020 in Review & Looking Forward](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/NERSC-2020-in-Review-and-Looking-Forward-Sudip-Dosanjh-Interview-ep44l0) NERSC director Sudip Dosanjh discusses the highlights of 2020 at NERSC, as well as what to look forward to in 2021 and beyond. - [Software Support Policy](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/NERSC-Software-Support-Policy-Steve-Leak-Interview-ehu6bg) In this interview with NERSC HPC Consultant Steve Leak, learn about the new NERSC software support policy: what it is, how it works, and its benefits for users and NERSC staff alike. - [NERSC Power Upgrade](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/NERSC-Power-Upgrade-David-Topete-Interview-egc35v) In this interview with Berkeley Lab Infrastructure Modernization Division's David Topete, learn about the power upgrade happening this weekend, the work that has to be done, and the steps taken to ensure the safety of the workers involved in the effort. - [Dynamic fan](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/Dynamic-Fan-Norm-Bourassa-Interview-ef4bkp) NERSC Energy Efficiency Engineer Norm Bourassa talks about how NERSC is saving energy with the dynamic fan settings on the Cori supercomputing cabinets, and what NERSC is doing to make the cabinets even more energy efficient. - [RAPIDS](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/The-RAPIDS-Library-Nick-Becker-Interview-eb0h5a) In this interview with NVIDIA RAPIDS senior engineer Nick Becker, learn about the RAPIDS library, how it can accelerate your data science, and how to use it. - [IO Middleware](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/IO-Middleware-Quincey-Koziol-Interview-eaf5r3/a-a1c7plt) NERSC Principal Data Architect Quincey Koziol talks about IO Middleware: what it is, how you can benefit from using it in your code, and how it is evolving to support data-intensive computing and future supercomputing architectures. - [Community File System](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/Community-File-System-Kristy-Kallback-Rose--Greg-Butler--and-Ravi-Cheema-Interview-e9d88q/a-a149hf5) NERSC Storage System Group staff Kristy Kallback-Rose, Greg Butler, and Ravi Cheema talk about the new Community File System and the migration timeline. - [Monitoring System Performance](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/Monitoring-System-Performance-Eric-Roman-Interview-e5g20m/a-aobd6p) NERSC Computational Systems Group's Eric Roman discusses how NERSC monitors system performance, what we're doing with the data right now, and how we plan to use it in the future. - [The Superfacility Concept](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/The-Superfacility-Concept-Debbie-Bard-Interview-e5a5th/a-amoglk): Join NERSC Data Science Engagement Group Lead Debbie Bard in a discussion about the concept of the superfacility: what it means, how facilities interact, and what NERSC and partner experimental facilities are doing to prepare for the future of data-intensive science. - [Optimizing I/O in Applications](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/Optimizing-IO-in-Applications-Jialin-Liu-Interview-e50nvm): Listen to an I/O optimization success story in this interview with NERSC Data and Analytics Services Group's Jialin Liu. - [NESAP Postdocs](https://anchor.fm/nersc-news/episodes/NESAP-Postdocs--Laurie-Stephey-Interview-e2lsg0): Learn from NESAP postdoc Laurie Stephey what it's like working as a postdoc in the NESAP program at NERSC. The NERSC User News podcast, produced by the NERSC User Engagement Group, is available at <https://anchor.fm/nersc-news> and syndicated through iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and more. Please give it a listen and let us know what you think, via a ticket at <https://help.nersc.gov>. ### Come Work for NERSC! <a name="careers"/></a> NERSC currently has several openings for postdocs, system administrators, and more! If you are looking for new opportunities, please consider the following openings: - [Site Reliability Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLXsO3q2): Provide a variety of engineering support services in a 24x7 environment at NERSC. - [Linux Systems Administrator/Dev Ops Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLA3-3fx): Help build and manage systems that complement the NERSC HPC environment, including web services, databases, container and virtual machine platforms, and more. - [Storage Systems Group Lead](http://m.rfer.us/LBLcze3fw): Lead the team that manages, supports, and monitors NERSC's large-scale storage systems. - [HPC Storage Infrastructure Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLGNw3fv): Join the team that architects, deploys, and supports high-performance parallel storage systems at NERSC. - [Machine Learning Engineer](http://m.rfer.us/LBLviN3fs): Enable new scientific advancements by enabling scientists to exploit cutting-edge computational science techniques in machine learning and deep learning on NERSC's future supercomputers. - [NESAP for Simulations Postdoctoral Fellow](http://m.rfer.us/LBL6vJ3fr): Work in multidisciplinary teams to develop and optimize codes for the Perlmutter system and produce mission-relevant science that pushes the limits of high-performance computing. - [NESAP for Learning Postdoctoral Fellow](http://m.rfer.us/LBL13A3fq): Work in multidisciplinary teams to develop and implement cutting-edge machine learning/deep learning solutions in codes that will run on NERSC's new Perlmutter supercomputer and produce mission-relevant science that pushes the limits of AI on high-performance computing. (**Note:** You can browse all our job openings by first navigating to <https://jobs.lbl.gov/jobs/search/>. Under "Business," select "View More" and scroll down to find and select the checkbox for "NE-NERSC".) We know that NERSC users can make great NERSC employees! We look forward to seeing your application. ### Upcoming Outages <a name="outages"/></a> - **Cori** - 06/16/21 07:00-20:00 PDT, Scheduled Maintenance - 07/21/21 07:00-20:00 PDT, Scheduled Maintenance - 08/18/21 07:00-20:00 PDT, Scheduled Maintenance - **Globus** - 06/16/21 9:00-13:00 PDT Scheduled Maintenance The Globus HPSS endpoint will be unavailable during the maintenance window for system testing. - **HPSS Archive (User)** - 06/09/21 9:00-13:00 PDT Scheduled Maintenance - **NERSC Center** - 07/09/21 7:00-07/12/21 17:00 PDT Scheduled Maintenance Most NERSC systems will be unavailable due to a power upgrade. Details on specific system availability will be provided closer to the time of the Maintenance. Visit <http://my.nersc.gov/> for latest status and outage information. ### About this Email <a name="about"/></a> You are receiving this email because you are the owner of an active account at NERSC. This mailing list is automatically populated with the email addresses associated with active NERSC accounts. In order to remove yourself from this mailing list, you must close your account, which can be done by emailing <accounts@nersc.gov> with your request. _______________________________________________ Users mailing list Users@nersc.gov