The UberCloud Experiment, initiated in mid-2012, aims to address challenges in technical computing for digital manufacturing, with over 1,300 participants and 55 cloud providers involved. It focuses on promoting High Performance Computing (HPC) usage and tackling barriers such as complexity, data security, and software licenses. Participants share experiences, and lessons learned emphasize the benefits of cloud HPC, including faster turnaround times and outsourced hardware management.

1. NCMS Michigan2.0
Introduction to
UberCloud Experiment
Presented By:
Danielle Jones, NCMS
BurakYenier, UberCloud

2. About the presenters
 Danielle Jones
 Business Development manager at NCMS
 Oversees SMM integration into the NCMSGrid effort
 BurakYenier
 Co-founder of UberCloud
 Industrial Engineer
 Experience in software development and data center management
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3. The Engineer’s computing tools:
workstations, servers, CAE clouds
CAE Server
CAE Cloud
3 options to use technical compute power

4. The Engineer’s computing tools:
The challenges
The digital manufacturing engineer is facing
three main challenges with these resources:
 Workstation: slow, limited capacity
 CAE server: expensive, complex
 CAE Service in the Cloud:
security,licensing, data transfer, expertise

5. What is the UberCloud Experiment?
To explore tech cloud challenges & potential solutions:
 We started the experiment mid-2012 as voluntary effort
 Demonstrate potential ofTechnical Computing in the Cloud
 Now with over 1,300 participants, 55 cloud providers, 80+ software
providers, and hundreds of experts
 Round 5 is in progress, 147 teams as of today
 2nd Compendium of use cases reports will appear in 2 weeks
Please submit your project ideas at the end of this webinar!
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6. WhyThis Experiment?
 Foster use of HPC in Digital Manufacturing
 Focus on: remote resources in HPC Centers &HPC Clouds
 Support initiatives from Intel, NCMS, and many others to
uncover and support the ‘missing middle’ (SMEs)
 Observation: business clouds are becoming widely accepted, but
acceptance of simulation clouds in industry is still in early adopter
stage (CAE, Bio, Finance,Oil & Gas, …)
 Some Barriers: Complexity, IP, data transfer, software
licenses, performance, specific system requirements,
data security, interoperability, cost, etc.
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7. How the Experiment works…
 End-User joins the experiment
 ISV joins
 We select a Team Expert
 We suggest a Resource Provider
 Team is ready to go
 … 25 steps on Basecamp virtual team office
 Finally, writing the Case Study

8. Our recipe for success
 Find the best matches for the end-user and form the team
 Step by step process of accessing and using remote HPC
 Collaborative tools such as Basecamp
 Experienced team mentors
 UberCloud Exhibit – list of services to pick from
 UberCloud University – specific lectures
 UberCloud Community – help is available when needed

9. Step by Step process
Basecamp Management Platform:

10. Team 8: Multiphase flows
within the cement and mineral industry
End User:

11.  A leading one-source supplier of equipment and services to
the global minerals and cement industries
 FLSmidth supplies everything from single machine units to
complete minerals and cement flow sheets including
associated services
 FLSmidth primarily focuses on the following industries: coal,
iron ore, fertilizers, copper, gold and cement and has the
ambition of being among the leading and preferred suppliers
in each of these industries
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The end-user:

12. Application
 FLSmidth’s largest flash dryer to date is located in
Morocco
 Dry wet phosphate cake
 Hot combustion products mixed with cooler air
 Moist solids (21%) added in venturi, ~700tph
 Moisture evaporated by hot gas
 Remaining moisture content in solids ~6%

13. Challenges
 Computationally expensive, multi-
phase, lagrangian, mass-transfer
 In-house hardware: Intel Xeon Processor X5667, 12M
Cache, 3.06 GHz, 6.40 GT/s, 24 GB Ram
 Geometry: 1.4 million cells, 5 species and a time step of
1 millisecond for a total time of 2 seconds
 One transient run takes 5 days

14. Experience
 Easy to upload data
 Intuitive web interface,
Support for extra script commands
 Easy run monitoring, using web basedTurboVNC,
not so responsive forOpenGL applications
 Great support, even when whole cluster went down
 1-2 day turnaround
 Large amounts of data still need to be transferred

15. Benefits
 Hardware know-how and expense (to some extent) is
outsourced
 Focus on the results instead
of the process
 Faster turn around for our
application
 Useable remote visualisation

16. Lessons Learned
 Positive experience with cloud HPC
 Some concerns about remote visualisation
 Data transfer at project end need to be considered
 Financial analysis still need to be undertaken
 Licensing
 Our expectations were met

17. Any questions?
Q & A Session
After the event, you can email:
Danielle Jones at daniellej@ncms.org
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18. More information
AboutTeam 8:
www.theubercloud.com/on-cloud-nine-ansys-advantage-magazine-volume-vii-issue-3-
2013/
25 More Projects reports:
www.theubercloud.com/ubercloud-compendium-2013/
Create your project:
www.theubercloud.com/create-join-teams/?how_did_you_hear=NCMS

19. The UberCloud Experiment
ThankYou
Register at
http://www.TheUberCloud.com