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In Grenoble, shared computing is a reality. Several CNRS communication
and information science and technology laboratories (STIC) are developing
a computer platform, the CI-GRID project, to pool the computing power
of their computers for their mutual benefit so that it matches needs better.
Mobilization of these forces has made it possible to create a new piece
of shared-computing software: CLIC.
The object of the CI-GRID project, which is being conducted at the scientific
establishments in Grenoble, is to pool the computing power of the various
scientific laboratories in a multi-disciplinary context. The idea stems
from a very simple observation: the computers (or clusters of computers)
of the laboratories are not used continuously, but when they are used,
their power is at times limited. It thus seemed judicious to pool the
computing power of several laboratories in order to redistribute it as
a function of the needs of those laboratories. Inspired by projects such
as Decrypton or SETI@home (1), the CI-GRID project (2)
was set up within a group of CNRS laboratories.
The goal of achieving an operational platform and the multi-disciplinary
nature of the partners imposed some constraints. The first stage of the
project involved choosing a type of application that was common to all
of the laboratories (applications based on Monte-Carlo type simulations,
i.e. with a very large number of simulations using different parameters),
and a software environment guaranteeing interoperability between the various
computers (and therefore the various labs). The "ID Laboratory"
(Informatique et Distribution, Computer Science and Distribution laboratory)
of CNRS has developed a Linux distribution, in partnership with Bull and
Mandrakesoft, for clusters of PCs (networked PCs capable of sharing a
computation), called CLIC (3). The software has made
it possible to install a computing environment that is flexible, stable,
and high-performance on the clusters of PCs in the various laboratories.
These 600 or so computing units are interconnected by a very high data
rate (about one gigabit per second) network because some applications
produce "petabytes" (almost one hundred thousand times the contents
of a PC hard disk) of data, some of which must be transferred from one
platform to another.
Once the hardware and software was in place, it was necessary to find
a transparent, fair, and efficient way of distributing the computing power
and the data movements. To this end, the researchers based their work
on the expertise of the ID Laboratory in problems of ordering and in the
operating tools for large computing infrastructures. This also made it
possible to study new approaches, in particular based on economic models
(the barter or market model, for example) or on game theory.
Among the first applications of the CI-GRID project, we might mention
a genetic analysis application developed jointly by the "TIMC Laboratory"
(Techniques pour l'Imagerie, la Modélisation et la Cognition, Techniques
for Imaging, Modeling, and Cognition laboratory) and the "Laboratoire
de biologie des populations alpines" (laboratory for biology of Alpine
populations). By using data produced by genetic research, scientists are
seeking to estimate the various events that contribute to making up the
history of a gene (mutation, migration, recombination, selection). The
aim is to understand the current structure of a population. For this type
of research, the methods used are extremely costly in terms of computing,
in particular since the genealogies are not observed but rather they are
constructed in statistical manner. The other applications concern, among
other things, astronomy (Observatoire de Grenoble), modeling of materials
for electronics ("Laboratoire de physique des matériaux et
des milieux condensés," condensed media and materials physics
laboratory), and medical imaging (TIMC). Ultimately, the software CLIC
(which is supported by the French Ministry of Industry) should be proposed
to private businesses which need large amounts of computing power (in
particular for Computer-Aided Design or "CAD").
It is interesting to note that the Communication and Information Science
and Technology Department (STIC) of CNRS is also taking part in the research
and engineering projects for French national computer grids: e-Toile,
Gasp, Clic, Casp, Clic, Xtremweb; and for European computer grids: Datagrid
and Eurogrid. Finally, we should note that this field constitutes one
of the strategic points of the STIC's multi-disciplinary theme network
(Réseau Thématique Pluridisciplinaire) No. 8, entitled:
"Calcul à hautes performances et calcul réparti"
or "high-performance computing and distributed computing" (http://www.cnrs.fr/STIC/actions/rtp/rtp.htm).
(1) Decrypton and Seti@home are using the
unused power of tens of thousands of computers, the former for producing
an exhaustive map of the 500,000 proteins in existence, and the latter
for attempting to find traces of extra-terrestrial life.
(2) The CI-GRID project is funded by a concerted incentive
action run by the French Ministry of Research, and it concerns the laboratories
of CNRS, of the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, of INRIA
(French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control),
and of the Université Joseph Fourrier, who are partners in an intensive
computing program called CIMENT, in progress since 1998.
http://www.ujf-grenoble.fr/CIMENT
(3) The CLIC project supported by the French Ministry
of Industry (Programme du Réseau National des Technologies Logicielles,
Program of the National Network of Software Technologies). The CLIC software
is available in freeware form at the following address: http://clic.mandrakesoft.com
Researcher
Contact:
Philippe Augerat
research engineer at CNRS
head of the CLIC project and player in the CI-GRID project
Tel: +33 4 76 61 20 51
e-mail: Philippe.Augerat@imag.fr
/Department
of Communication and Information Science and Technology:
Contact:
Armelle Toulemonde
Tel: +33 1 44 96 53 88
http://www.cnrs.fr/STIC/
Press contact
:
Marie-Noëlle Abat
Tel : +33 1 44 96 43 09
e-mail : mn.abat@cnrs-dir.fr
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