Petascale visual data analysis in a production computing environment
Sean D. Ahern · Journal of Physics Conference Series · 2007
Supporting the visualization and analysis needs of the users of the Department of Energy's premiere high-performance computing centers requires a careful engineering of software and hardware system architectures to provide maximum capability and algorithmic breadth. Data set growth follows an inverse power law that has implications for the platforms that are deployed for analysis and visualization; central storage and coupled analysis platforms are critical for petascale post-production. Software architectures like VisIt – which exploit parallel platforms, as well as provide remote capability, extensibility, and optimization – are fruitful ground for delivering new analysis capabilities for petascale applications. Finally, direct interaction with customers is key to deploying successful results.