D2.2: Second Report on PRACE 2.0 Development
Philippe Segers, Veronica Teodor · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2017
This deliverable is an update of the PRACE-4IP deliverable D2.1 “First Report on PRACE 2.0 Development” and reports on the status of the implementation process of the second period of operations of the PRACE pan-European Research Infrastructure, so-called PRACE 2, that will succeed between 2017 and 2020 the PRACE agreement for the Initial Period (referred to as PRACE 1 in this deliverable). Since its establishment in 2010, PRACE 1 has been very successful in providing a world-class HPC infrastructure to European researchers in science and industry, thus enabling these users to access globally competitive HPC systems based on scientific and technical merit. Four Hosting Members (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) secured funding for the Initial Period from 2010 to 2017, while all PRACE project partners continued to develop the services and brand of PRACE in four FP7-funded Preparatory and Implementation Phase projects (PRACE-PP, PRACE-1IP, PRACE-2IP, PRACE-3IP) and one under Horizon 2020 (the current PRACE-4IP). At the occasion of the 25th PRACE Council Meeting in Amsterdam in March 2017, the PRACE Members ratified a Resolution to proceed with the second phase of their partnership – now known as PRACE 2. With the second period defined from 2017 to 2020, PRACE will strengthen Europe’s position as a world-class scientific supercomputing provider. Supercomputing is considered a key enabling technology for knowledge development, scientific research, big data analytics, solving global and societal challenges, and supporting European industrial competitiveness. PRACE 2 will build on the important achievements reached by PRACE 1 with the long-term objective of providing a sustainable infrastructure. For the PRACE 2 programme, the PRACE Members have thoroughly discussed and defined the underlying funding model of the Research Infrastructure, based on the contribution of the 5 Hosting Members (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland) and the General Partners. The European Commission supports specific PRACE activities via projects funding. The impact of PRACE 2 is already visible for user communities. In the 14th Call for Proposals for Project Access, PRACE was able to make available 2000 Million core hours, that is 2.5 times more resources than in previous calls.