Altair, a global leader in computational science and artificial intelligence (AI), and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory announced the use of the on-demand workload manager and scheduler – Altair PBS Professional – to accelerate scientific breakthroughs, including efforts aimed at solving the world’s energy crises. Argonne’s Polaris supercomputer is utilizing the technology to help scientists find ways to slash greenhouse gas emissions through research into fusion energy, better biofuels, and safer and more reliable next-generation nuclear reactors.
By using PBS Professional on the high-performance computing (HPC) systems at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility, researchers will be able to schedule simultaneous and concurrent workloads, which creates higher research throughputs without interruption. Deployed earlier this year, Polaris is Argonne’s most powerful computer to date and is helping researchers prepare for the lab’s Aurora exascale system, which will also utilize PBS Professional. Aurora will be theoretically capable of performing two quintillion operations per second, making it one of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
PBS Professional is helping to optimize and manage thousands of node hours simultaneously, empowering researchers at the ALCF to reduce research hours by the hundreds and make more effective scientific discoveries.
“We don’t have a moment to waste in solving the world’s critical energy challenges. PBS Professional allows researchers to drive scientific advancement at a significantly faster rate,” said Bill Allcock, ALCF director of operations. “We’re excited about the collaboration we have with Altair, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds on Polaris as we address future challenges like on-demand computing, data services, and sharing, not to mention the exponentially increased impact it will have once PBS Professional is running on our forthcoming, next-generation Aurora supercomputer.”
“The ALCF has brought some of the world’s most powerful technology together to help the global scientific community unlock the secrets of our universe, mitigate climate change, and leapfrog technology advancements,” said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair. “We are proud that PBS Professional is driving this effort and are eager to see the research advancements both the Polaris and Aurora supercomputers deliver next.”
