IBM, followed by Dell, was the top named [HPC] vendor for number of nodes installed when outliers (i.e., systems with 2,000 or more nodes) were excluded.  Click for full article

I’m sure that most users reading this are using HPC systems with less than 2000 nodes.  It’s the core of the HPC market and Dell has captured a very large portion of it.

Our goal in this report was to discover system-level trends within the HPC user communities by examining supplier penetration, architecture trends, and node configurations.  As with previous years, we surveyed a broad range of users about their current computer system installations, storage systems, networks, middleware, and the applications software supporting these installations.

As I watch this clip, I can’t help but get chills as I remember the Space Shuttle Program.  I see my co-workers, my dreams, the landscape, and even some of my work.  During the last couple of years, during the winding down of the program, I’ve paid a lot of attention and have had lots to say but I’ve been mostly quiet.

I spent my childhood dreaming of space in the 80s, and I worked for Morton-Thiokol (which became ATK) starting in late 90s.  Being part of the Space Shuttle workforce was more than just a job, it was a bit of a dream come true.  Now that Orbiters are getting shuffled around to museums in various cities, I’m excited for the next phase of America’s space program; but, I will never forget the privilege it was to work for the Space Shuttle Program.

I was also able to see Space Shuttle Discovery fly from a perch at the Vehicle Assembly Building on STS-102. The day before, Columbia had just arrived in the VAB after a ride back from an overhaul in Palmdale, and I got to walk right up to her – just like I did with Enterprise at the World’s Fair in 1984 – but this was much more intimate.  She looked like a true workhorse.  What an experience!

A few weeks ago Rich Brueckner over at insideHPC pointed the HPC community to an excellent lecture on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).   Dr. Margot Gerritsen, a Computational Scientist and the Director of the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Standford University, gives a great overview of CFD.   It’s worth your time to watch if you are interested in, or even tangentially associated with, CFD.   She explains CFD with very clear and easy to understand examples.  I really appreciate those who have a passion for applied mathematics and go a step further and make it interesting!

[I want to share] with you a bit of the passion that I have for computational mathematics … [The] mathematical harassing of undergraduate and graduate students is led by my institute … that’s a wonderful feeling to be able to control that … very painful experience… But I love it!

When you look at it very carefully, all of the equations that govern fluid flow processes.. be it climate models, weather models, optimization of sail design for competitive yacht races … optimizing wings … fluid flow in oil and gas reservoirs, aquifers, ground water models, coastal oceans, wind turbine optimization …

All of these processes that may seem completely different, are all governed by these equations, it’s all the same stuff… they look very complex … [but] it’s all relatively simple.

Dr. Gerritsen does a great job of presenting an overview of what is involved in CFD calculations.  She then goes into the how and why of creating  an effective mesh, and then solving  this mesh on a cluster.  This is a very excellent introduction to fluid dynamics!

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No matter what your method of travel, the balance between carrying everything you might need and just the essentials is sometimes a struggle.  I’ve been traveling quite a bit the last few years and I have figured just about the right balance … at least for me.  I get comments all the time about how light my bag is!  (For this post, I’m referring to my carry-on bag or briefcase).  I thought I would share what’s in my bag and why.

I am very picky about what I will add to my bag, and I get a little too much pleasure when I’m able to remove something from my bag permanently (e.g.  I was just able to dump my GPS now that I have a suitable replacement on my iPhone – check out waze).  The items you see are the same ones I carry with me whether I am running across town or across the country, and for short or long trips.  Having all the essentials in one place makes planning and packing ever so easy when you know everything is in your bag and ready to go.

These items are my essentials …  I would much rather lose my suitcase than my carry-on.  All right, let’s get to the list, mostly from left to right, but not really in order of importance:

• Reading Material – so here I have Make: magazine which I commonly swap out with Wired.  I read cached RSS feeds from Google Reader on my iPhone quite often.
• Clear Plastic Folder – I use this folder to quickly store necessary travel documents, boarding passes, and receipts.   It quickly secures with Velcro and it is easy to verify the contents at a glance.  I always empty this folder at the end of every trip.
• Glasses, Case, and Lens Cloth – because, well, … it’s a bit easier to read for long periods of time.
• Healthcare Stuff - Eye drops, Hand Sanitizer, Floss, Mints, Tube of Essential Medications, Carmex
• Laptop and Charger – Necessary for email and presentations.  Nice for watching movies.
• Lanyard – I dislike being given a promotional badge lanyard for every conference I attend.  I like to use my own sometimes.
• Quarters – Sometimes you have no choice but to feed the parking meter.
• Stack of $1 Bills – I find it easier to have a bunch of dollar bills accessible, rather than pulling out my wallet for tips.
• MiO Water Enhancer – Nice when you’re tired of water, but know you shouldn’t have another Diet Coke.
• Laser Pointer – It’s a must have for those “death by PowerPoint” presentations (I shy away from these as much as possible!)  This one also doubles as an LED flashlight.
• USB Flash Drive – Too many times there is no VGA cable for the projector – just don’t leave it behind!
• Binder Clips – There are endless uses for these … just read lifehacker!
• Pen and Mechanical Pencil - Instant geek cred when you have a mechanical pencil in your shirt pocket.
• Bluetooth Headset – Single headset for both my phones.
• Badge – I can’t show up to work without it.
• Alternate Identification – I carry one of those credit card-sized US passports in my bag (complete with tin foil hat!) in case I lose my wallet.  Getting through TSA security to get back home would be a nightmare otherwise.
• Luggage Tag – “I … uh …  forgot my bag on the plane.”
• Business Cards – Complete with Google Voice phone number and Twitter feed.
• Keys - If you are parking and then flying, keep these in a safe place.  You won’t need them until you get back but you’ll be screwed if you’ve lost them.
• Notebook - You need something professional to doodle on, right?
• iPhone – This is probably the most important item I carry with me.  It’s my phone (of course), hotspot, email, map, GPS, travel agent, notebook, white noise machine, etc.
• Extra Mobile Phone – I don’t carry two phones on me, but having a backup phone on an alternate carrier in your bag is a good way to cover your bases.  See my post Prepping for Sticky Travel Situations.
• Bluetooth Trackball/Mouse - Using the trackpad combined with limited elbow room on a plane is comfortable only for a short time.  Yeah, I know this is probably not kosher once the cabin door closes but I’ve never been cited.
• Earplugs - “Really?  You have to tell the story of your second cousin’s hunting trip now?  On the five-hour red-eye flight back home?”
• Noise Cancelling Earbuds w/ Mic - In addition to listening to your favorite tunes, these are handy when your bluetooth headset just won’t cut it for that important call with your boss.
• Extra Laptop Battery -  This is a must-have for those all-day trips when you won’t have access to an outlet.
• Retractable USB Cables – 2x Micro-USB, Mini-USB, iPhone, Stereo – These double as charging and data cables for every device that needs juice in my bag.  I use the stereo cable for rental cars that commonly have an AUX input.
• 110V Power Splitter – This is nice when all the of the power plugs are being used at the gate.  Just ask nicely if you can split the power.  It’s like carrying your own outlet!  It’s also nice for those hotel rooms that never have enough power outlets.
• Dual USB Car Charger – For charging all of my devices on the go.
• Triple USB Charger – With folding 110V prongs!
• Mophie Juice Pack – For those long days when I just don’t have time to charge my iPhone, I just swap out cases and I’m good to go.

I would love to know what you have in your travel bag – maybe I can consolidate mine even further!  Happy Travels …

Take a look at my recent article over at HPCatDell.com regarding the Supercomputing landscape in Formula One racing.  Here’s a snippet from the post:

HPC technology enables F1 engineers to test hundreds of ideas virtually, and select those that perform well for physical testing, saving F1 teams both time and money. Its importance has been recognized with new regulations that limit F1 teams to 20 teraflops of compute power.

HPC solutions have transformed the competitive landscape of Formula One racing. Which industry is next?

What do you think?

My normal preparations (aka the stuff in my carry-on bag) really paid off during this hiccup in my plans.  I thought I would share with you a few lessons that were reinforced while stuck in San Diego.  Some of these things I was going to share in future blogs, but the time seems appropriate to do so now.  I am very selective in the items I carry with me as I try to travel very light; although, a few seldom used items that I always carry with me came in very handy.

As I arrived at the airport, I quickly passed by the Delta counter and headed to security because I never check bags.  If I had checked a bag  I would have had to wait a very long time to retrieve it before exiting the airport, delaying my escape from San Diego.  Checking a bag will usually slow you down substantially if your plans change, your flight gets cancelled, or you are stuck overnight because of a missed connection while your bag made it safely to your destination without you.  If you travel a lot and are still checking bags, its time to downsize your stuff and even consider washing if you have an extended trip.  If I have a tight connection I also try not to gate check my bag if possible, as this can easily cost you an extra 20 minutes.  I recently downsized my suitcase to one that will fit under the seat on regional jets, and now I rarely need to gate check.  This saves me lots of time, and gives me much more flexibility when I have connecting flights.

What is the first thing you imagine everyone did after realizing that their travels plans were in jeopardy?  Get on their phone of course – to check the news, call loved ones, make alternate arrangements, etc.  This compounded with cell towers without power quickly caused calls to drop and data connections to stall.  I was fortunate enough to have two phones with me, each on different networks (T-mobile and AT&T).  Over the next several hours I had to alternate between phones but I was usually able to get through.

After a couple of hours, the most common worry I heard from others was that their phone battery was almost drained and they had no way to charge it.  I always keep an extra battery with me for both of my phones.  I typically only need them on long flights or times when I forget to charge my phone overnight.  In San Diego though, the extra batteries became a lifeline.  Purchase an extra battery or two and keep them charged; you never know when you will need them.  Additionally, I had my retractable charging cables in my bag so I was able to get some juice once I got to a rental car.

Speaking of rental cars, this was the key to getting my travel back on track.  While planes could not take off, it turns out that most of the rental car companies were still issuing cars to patrons.  So now I had power for my phones, air-conditioning, and a way to leave town.  I picked a rental car that had great MPG since I didn’t know when I would find another working gas pump.  Getting to a rental car was key, and I was able to drive to Los Angeles (which had power), get a good nights sleep, and catch a flight the next morning.

I have some colleagues that rely on the GPS on their smartphone, but I always carry a separate small Garmin GPS with me.  I like to have separate devices in case I get an important call while I’m driving.  In the power outage though, conserving battery power on my phone was nice, but more importantly the data connection on my phone was almost non-existent which made apps like Google Maps useless.  My Garmin has the maps built-in and it worked just like you would expect, regardless of the outage.  I would suggest a GPS that has a standard USB charging connection (so you can use retractable cables) and has spoken street names.  This way, I can just stuff my GPS in the console or my shirt pocket, and not have to carry the bulky window mount with me everywhere.

Credit cards were useless in San Diego during the power outage.  I always carry some extra cash with me, which I usually end up using on cab fare or parking.  In this case though, I needed cash so I could eat!  If you don’t have a stash of extra cash with you, at the very least put an extra twenty in your wallet that you only use in case of emergencies.

All in all, the San Diego blackout turned out to be not so bad thanks to preparation and a little luck.  I arrived home 18 hours late but I got a good nights rest, ate well, and was able to communicate with friends and family.

Related articles

• D’oh! San Diego & Southwestern U.S. Blackout Blamed On Just One Worker (laist.com)
• SAN DIEGO BLACKOUT LESSONS: A reader emails: You called it. I can’t find the post at the mo… (pajamasmedia.com)

One of the keys to dealing with this mess is to be somewhat selective in your device purchases.  I usually won’t buy a new electronic device I carry with me unless it has a 1) Mini-USB, 2) Micro-USB, or 3) iPod connector.  For me this includes my GPS,  Bluetooth Headset, iPhone, Blackberry, spare batteries, etc.  The proliferation of Micro- and Mini-USB device connections is making this ever easier in the last several months.

The second key is to purchase retractable USB cables with the standard large male USB plug on one end, and Micro-USB, Mini-USB, and iPod Universal connectors on the other end.  Just three small retractable cables will take care of most of your charging needs.  Additionally, these cables can be used for data connections as well (e.g. syncing your iPod with iTunes, or connecting to an external USB hard drive).  Now you will need something to plug them into… and this is the beauty of the solution.

You can plug standard male USB connections in all over the place!  For example, your laptop surely has at least two ports, some new cars have them, many airport terminals offer USB connections in addition to standard outlets, and some newer airplane seats have USB connections. Standard USB female ports are proliferating in so many places.

What if you don’t have a laptop with you or a USB port available?  This is where we add two small additions to your cable kit… a car charger and 3 port folding plug.

So your kit only needs to include three retractable cables, a USB car adaptor, and a single wall-wart.  That’s it!  This is a very compact and extremely flexible charging and data solution for your proliferation of devices.  I usually keep a couple spare retractable cables in my suitcase just in case one fails or I lose a cable (I learned this challenging lesson the hard way without a way to charge my dead iPhone while traveling).

On other addition I’ve made is a retractable stereo cable which is great for plugging your phone or MP3 player into those nifty AUX ports in most newer rental cars.  Lastly, this kit is meant for traveling … any vehicle or workstation you use frequently should have its own dedicated cables (e.g. cell phone car charger).  This way you can keep your bag packed and ready to go!

I’m really curious what others have done to tame the cable mess we carry in our bags.  Please let me know your creative solutions as well!

Image via Wikipedia

As I write this, I’m 39,000 up and I just finished designing an HPC cluster to perform FE analysis for airplane landing gears…  So,  I’m going to start a new series of blogs entries regarding travel tips.  I know this isn’t the typical “engineering” conversation but now is a good time for me to blog about travel.  I travel sometimes in my career visiting groups that are doing HPC…  and it’s ever so important for me to be efficient in my travel so I can spend more time doing and relaxing, rather than worrying about travel logistics.   For me, this efficiency makes a good bit of my travel experience easy and worry-free.  Also, I have some colleagues who have just started traveling, so it’s a good time to share some of the secrets of my travel success.   Lastly, ever since I graduated with my Masters in CS my blog writing has suffered for various reasons, so I’m hoping this will get me back in the habit.