SiVeGCS

SiVeGCS provides critical funding for Germany's three national supercomputing centers within the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart, the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre). In addition to supporting the development and operation of GCS's supercomputing systems, the project enhances the centers' ability to provide users with high-level support services, in particular for enhancing the efficiency of their applications. The following are some key components.

User support

Today's supercomputers are not just expensive but also consume huge amounts of energy. For example, operation of HLRS’s current flagship system, Hawk, requires approximately the same amount of energy as a city of 24,000 residents! This means it is critical that resources be used as efficiently as possible; i.e., achieving as much scientific progress as possible with respect to runtime and energy consumed.

Typically, one effective way to address this challenge is to optimize the performance of applications that run on HPC systems. Under the auspices of the SiVeGCS-MWK project, BMBF and the State of Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and Art (MWK) therefore provide HLRS with funding not only to purchase new hardware but also to hire user support staff at the center. At HLRS, scientific staff works closely with our system users to assist them in optimizing their applications. Similar user support capabilities also exist at other centers within the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing, with support from the corresponding state government.