OpenAD Virtual Machines ECCO2 Meeting, May 2011

1. OpenAD Virtual Machines

2. Virtual machines Virtual machines in general - provide a way to distribute a complicated software setup in a virtual computer/virtual cluster Run on local machine using e.g. VMware, virtual box Run on “cloud” resources e.g. Amazon EC2 Performance for large cluster jobs not fully solved, but for up to ~64 cores, 64GB memory performance is competitive. Basic VM steps Select an image to start. Launch virtual computer. Connect to virtual computer (ssh, web) and use it just like any other computer. Amazon – pay credit card bill at end of month. There are also other emerging cloud solutions including NASA, DOE etc…

3. OpenAD Virtual Machine - I Self-contained virtual computer with MITgcm and OpenAD all configured and ready to go. Has some documentation and starts up with a simple web interface.

4. OpenAD Virtual Machine - II Two setups. (1) Vmware based – small problem size [4 degree, CS32], (2) Amazon EC2 based – larger problem size [1 degree, C128], MPI coming. Goal is to provide easier way to get started with OpenAD gets users trying basic experiments, changing cost functions (within some limits) etc…. Can start with web interface. Interface shows code changes and steps needed to compile, run, analyze for different meaningful problems e.g. sensitivity of transports, sensitivity of global and regional heat content etc…. Experiment with interface shows how to make more advanced code changes by hand.

5. OpenAD Virtual Machine - III May be useful for actual research problems too, but mostly envisioned as a tutorial that will help get people started. Only basic plotting, limited set of cost summations etc…. OpenAD can also be installed on most regular Linux/UNIX systems. Virtual Machine provides some extra information on how to do this.