September 19, 2024
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In the present day we’re asserting AWS Parallel Computing Service (AWS PCS), a brand new managed service that helps prospects arrange and handle excessive efficiency computing (HPC) clusters so that they seamlessly run their simulations at nearly any scale on AWS. Utilizing the Slurm scheduler, they will work in a well-recognized HPC surroundings, accelerating their time to outcomes as a substitute of worrying about infrastructure.

In November 2018, we launched AWS ParallelCluster, an AWS supported open-source cluster administration device that lets you deploy and handle HPC clusters within the AWS Cloud. With AWS ParallelCluster, prospects may shortly construct and deploy proof of idea and manufacturing HPC compute environments. They’ll use AWS ParallelCluster Command-Line interface, API, Python library, and the consumer interface put in from open supply packages. They’re liable for updates, which may embrace tearing down and redeploying clusters. Many purchasers, although, have requested us for a completely managed AWS service to get rid of operational jobs in constructing and working HPC environments.

AWS PCS simplifies HPC environments managed by AWS and is accessible by way of the AWS Administration Console, AWS SDK, and AWS Command-Line Interface (AWS CLI). Your system directors can create managed Slurm clusters that use their compute and storage configurations, id, and job allocation preferences. AWS PCS makes use of Slurm, a extremely scalable, fault-tolerant job scheduler used throughout a variety of HPC prospects, for scheduling and orchestrating simulations. Finish customers equivalent to scientists, researchers, and engineers can log in to AWS PCS clusters to run and handle HPC jobs, use interactive software program on digital desktops, and entry information. You’ll be able to carry their workloads to AWS PCS shortly, with out important effort to port code.

You should utilize absolutely managed NICE DCV distant desktops for distant visualization, and entry job telemetry or utility logs to allow specialists to handle your HPC workflows in a single place.

AWS PCS is designed for a variety of conventional and rising, compute or data-intensive, engineering and scientific workloads throughout areas equivalent to computational fluid dynamics, climate modeling, finite ingredient evaluation, digital design automation, and reservoir simulations utilizing acquainted methods of making ready, executing, and analyzing simulations and computations.

Getting began with AWS Parallel Computing Service
To check out AWS PCS, you should use our tutorial for making a easy cluster within the AWS documentation. First, you create a digital non-public cloud (VPC) with an AWS CloudFormation template and shared storage in Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) inside your account for the AWS Area the place you’ll strive AWS PCS. To be taught extra, go to Create a VPC and Create shared storage within the AWS documentation.

1. Create a cluster
Within the AWS PCS console, select Create cluster, a persistent useful resource for managing sources and working workloads.

Subsequent, enter your cluster title and select the controller dimension of your Slurm scheduler. You’ll be able to select Small (as much as 32 nodes and 256 jobs), Medium (as much as 512 nodes and eight,192 jobs), or Giant (as much as 2,048 nodes and 16,384 jobs) for the boundaries of cluster workloads. Within the Networking part, select your created VPC, subnet to launch the cluster, and safety group utilized to your cluster.

Optionally, you’ll be able to set the Slurm configuration equivalent to an idle time earlier than compute nodes will scale down, a Prolog and Epilog scripts listing on launched compute nodes, and a useful resource choice algorithm parameter utilized by Slurm.

Select Create cluster. It takes a while for the cluster to be provisioned.

2. Create compute node teams
After creating your cluster, you’ll be able to create compute node teams, a digital assortment of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) cases that AWS PCS makes use of to offer interactive entry to a cluster or run jobs in a cluster. Whenever you outline a compute node group, you specify widespread traits equivalent to EC2 occasion varieties, minimal and most occasion depend, goal VPC subnets, Amazon Machine Picture (AMI), buy choice, and customized launch configuration. Compute node teams require an occasion profile to go an AWS Identification and Entry Administration (IAM) position to an EC2 occasion and an EC2 launch template that AWS PCS makes use of to configure EC2 cases it launches. To be taught extra, go to Create a launch template And Create an occasion profile within the AWS documentation.

To create a compute node group within the console, go to your cluster and select the Compute node teams tab and the Create compute node group button.

You’ll be able to create two compute node teams: a login node group to be accessed by finish customers and a job node group to run HPC jobs.

To create a compute node group working HPC jobs, enter a compute node title and choose a previously-created EC2 launch template, IAM occasion profile, and subnets to launch compute nodes in your cluster VPC.

Subsequent, select your most well-liked EC2 occasion varieties to make use of when launching compute nodes and the minimal and most occasion depend for scaling. I selected the hpc6a.48xlarge occasion kind and scale restrict as much as eight cases. For a login node, you’ll be able to select a smaller occasion, equivalent to one c6i.xlarge occasion. You may also select both the On-demand or Spot EC2 buy choice if the occasion kind helps. Optionally, you’ll be able to select a particular AMI.

Select Create. It takes a while for the compute node group to be provisioned. To be taught extra, go to Create a compute node group to run jobs and Create a compute node group for login nodes within the AWS documentation.

3. Create and run your HPC jobs
After creating your compute node teams, you submit a job to a queue to run it. The job stays within the queue till AWS PCS schedules it to run on a compute node group, based mostly on out there provisioned capability. Every queue is related to a number of compute node teams, which offer the mandatory EC2 cases to do the processing.

To create a queue within the console, go to your cluster and select the Queues tab and the Create queue button.

Enter your queue title and select your compute node teams assigned to your queue.

Select Create and wait whereas the queue is being created.

When the login compute node group is lively, you should use AWS Techniques Supervisor to hook up with the EC2 occasion it created. Go to the Amazon EC2 console and select your EC2 occasion of the login compute node group. To be taught extra, go to Create a queue to submit and handle jobs and Hook up with your cluster within the AWS documentation.

To run a job utilizing Slurm, you put together a submission script that specifies the job necessities and submit it to a queue with the sbatch command. Usually, that is completed from a shared listing so the login and compute nodes have a standard area for accessing information.

You may also run a message passing interface (MPI) job in AWS PCS utilizing Slurm. To be taught extra, go to Run a single node job with Slurm or Run a multi-node MPI job with Slurm within the AWS documentation.

You’ll be able to join a fully-managed NICE DCV distant desktop for visualization. To get began, use the CloudFormation template from HPC Recipes for AWS GitHub repository.

On this instance, I used the OpenFOAM motorBike simulation to calculate the regular circulation round a bike and rider. This simulation was run with 288 cores of three hpc6a cases. The output could be visualized within the ParaView session after logging in to the net interface of DCV occasion.

Lastly, after you might be completed HPC jobs with the cluster and node teams that you simply created, you need to delete the sources that you simply created to keep away from pointless prices. To be taught extra, go to Delete your AWS sources within the AWS documentation.

Issues to know
Listed below are a few issues that you need to find out about this function:

  • Slurm variations – AWS PCS initially helps Slurm 23.11 and offers mechanisms designed to allow prospects to improve their Slurm main variations as soon as new variations are added. Moreover, AWS PCS is designed to robotically replace the Slurm controller with patch variations. To be taught extra, go to Slurm variations within the AWS documentation.
  • Capability Reservations – You’ll be able to reserve EC2 capability in a particular Availability Zone and for a particular period utilizing On-Demand Capability Reservations to just remember to have the mandatory compute capability out there if you want it. To be taught extra, go to Capability Reservations within the AWS documentation.
  • Community file methods – You’ll be able to connect community storage volumes the place information and information could be written and accessed, together with Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, Amazon FSx for OpenZFS, and Amazon File Cache in addition to Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx for Lustre. You may also use self-managed volumes, equivalent to NFS servers. To be taught extra, go to Community file methods within the AWS documentation.

Now out there
AWS Parallel Computing Service is now out there within the US East (N. Virginia), AWS US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Eire), Europe (Stockholm) Areas.

AWS PCS launches all sources in your AWS account. You may be billed appropriately for these sources. For extra info, see the AWS PCS Pricing web page.

Give it a try to ship suggestions to AWS re:Post or by way of your normal AWS Assist contacts.

— Channy

P.S. Particular due to Matthew Vaughn, a principal developer advocate at AWS for his contribution in making a HPC testing surroundings.