Simon Butcher Follow
Head of Research Applications. He likes open source software, maths and problem-solving.
Posts by Simon Butcher
SSH authentication and regaining access to Apocrita
In response to a coordinated security attack on HPC sites world-wide, it hasbeen necessary to implement some changes to enforce a higher level ofauthentication security. In this artic...
in tutorial, Jun 12, 2020
ITS Research FAQ regarding use of services during COVID-19 pandemic
As a result of the large-scale shift to remote working due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been asked various questions relating to computational research, which we’ll try to addres...
in news, Mar 19, 2020
Apocrita newsletter - March 2020
Here is a round-up of recent QMUL HPC cluster news from the ITSResearch team, including information about new compute nodes.
in news, Mar 01, 2020
Productivity tips for Apocrita cluster users
This article presents a selection of useful tips for running successful and well-performing jobs on the QMUL Apocrita cluster.
in tutorial, Oct 23, 2019
Comparing common compression tools using real-world data
Compression tools can significantly reduce the amount of disk space consumed by your data. In this two-part article, we will look at the effectiveness of some compression tools on rea...
in article, Oct 10, 2019
Simplification of parallel queues on Apocrita
We are simplifying the way that the multi-node parallel jobs are run on the cluster.
in news, Jun 27, 2019
Cluster update summary
As part of our commitment to providing stable and manageable systems, here is a round-up of some recent updates we have been working on behind the scenes:
in news, Jun 12, 2019
Running Machine Learning workloads on Apocrita
In this tutorial we’ll be showing you how to run a TensorFlow job using the GPU nodes on the Apocrita HPCcluster. We will expand upon the essentials provided on the QMUL HPCdocs site,...
in tutorial, Mar 22, 2019
Sizing your Apocrita jobs for quicker results
At any one time, a typical HPC cluster is usually full. This is not such a bad thing, since it means the substantial investment is working hard for the money, rather than sitting idle...
in tutorial, Jan 28, 2019
Cluster Hardware Upgrades and Additions
As part of our commitment to regular upgrades to the HPC service, and to keep up with ever-growing demand, we are pleased to announce the addition of new hardware to the Apocrita HPC ...
in news, Dec 04, 2018
AI tools
For the increasing number of Researchers working with Deep Learning technologies, we also have the existing GPU nodes attached to Apocrita.Tensorflow is available, and we are working ...
in news, Sep 15, 2018
AI tools
QMUL have access to powerful Tier 2 (formerly known as Regional) HPC resources, predominantly for EPSRC researchers. If you run multi-node parallel code (using MPI, for example), you ...
in news, Sep 15, 2018
POWER servers
QMUL installed two IBM AC922 POWER 9 servers to support research into deep learning and artificial intelligence, the first of their kind in UK HE. These servers come with a suite of c...
in news, Sep 15, 2018
Short queue
Please note that frontend/login nodes are for preparing and submitting your job scripts and running computational tasks directly on the frontend nodes is forbidden, since it can impai...
in news, Sep 15, 2018
Decommissioning of ccn nodes
The ccn nodes have been removed to make way for the new sdv nodes. The nodes were very old, had become unreliable, and were an inefficient use of space and power.
in news, Apr 05, 2018
New cluster announcement
We are pleased to announce that the new cluster is available for general use. This has been a large project, involving the following:
in news, Jul 11, 2017
Midplus Consortium
The Midlands Plus consortium have now deployed a new 14,000 core cluster, located in Loughborough. You can hear more about this from your local institution.
in news, Jul 11, 2017
Python performance in containers
Singularity is a container solution designed for HPC. Due to the secure and simple design, it can be easily used to provide applications for use with HPC clusters where other containe...
in article, Jul 03, 2017
1PB added storage
We recently added an additional petabyte of storage, it is necessary to move all files to the new storage to benefit from improved performance.
in news, Mar 20, 2017