Platform Computing Focuses on Bursting to the Cloud as Needed

By DE Editors

Platform Computing has outlined three solutions designed to simplify the path to the cloud, enabling HPC customers to easily handle unpredictable workloads, take advantage of external cloud resources when internal resources are unavailable, and push workloads to the external cloud based on priority and required resources. Using Platform Computing’s cloud bursting solutions, HPC customers can implement HPC cloud environments that are optimally configured based on their requirements, according to the company.   

“Platform Computing’s work to simplify the complex work-stream and resource provisioning to the cloud promises to give users access to the vital computing resources they need to conduct their research projects. This is particularly critical to individual developers and smaller teams who often have very large jobs that require hyper-scale computing capabilities,” says Donnie Bell, senior manager, High Performance Computing Solutions, Dell Inc. “The ability to leverage the massive amount of instantaneous cycles within the ‘cloud,’ with tools uniquely optimized for that environment, is a huge leap for everyone throughout the scientific and research communities.”

Through its cloud computing solutions, Platform Computing says it helps improve utilization and resource capacity while helping organizations avoid the costs and delays of large capital purchases.  The company offers three separate paths for HPC users to dynamically scale resources to handle peak workload necessary for HPC applications:

1. Integrated cluster with the cloud (Platform LSF): uses Platform LSF’s dynamic host capabilities along with a cloud service, such as the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), to provide cloud resources that appear to operate within the HPC datacenter (local IP addresses, host names, etc.).  Platform LSF recognizes outside cloud services as valid resources and integrates the resources into the HPC infrastructure.  Workloads can then be sent to the cloud portion of the HPC infrastructure to run applications as designated by policy or on a job-by-job basis.

2. Multi-cluster to the cloud (Platform LSF with Platform MultiCluster): allows users to start up a new cluster in any cloud or hosting provider environment without a dedicated link such as Amazon VPC.  Used in conjunction with Platform LSF, Platform MultiCluster enables users to distribute workloads between internal HPC clusters and external cloud resources, according to policy.  

3. Dynamic cluster extension to the cloud (Platform LSF with Platform ISF): combined with Platform LSF, Platform ISF creates a cloud management solution that dynamically scales clusters to include resources within the data center infrastructure or externally to a cloud provider based on the application workload.  Platform ISF includes resource kits to manage physical or virtual servers, multiple operating systems, virtual machines and cloud resources.

“External Cloud computing is an increasingly attractive alternative to purchasing additional infrastructure for many organizations because it offers a pay-per-use economic model and supports near instantaneous access to resources,” says Ken Hertzler, vice president, Product Management, Platform Computing.  “Successful HPC cloud implementations are dependent on an administrator’s ability to automatically designate workloads to run on remote or local resources depending on business requirements. The management features included in Platform Computing’s products enable such control and seamlessly connect physical and cloud-based resources, making the path to the cloud easier.”

For more information, visit Platform Computing.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.