The many scenarios of water research

How do you study sea behaviour, shoreline changes and the effects of storms? Using models and simulations. This requires a lot of computing power and storage capacity. The Delft-based International Institute for Infrastructural Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering uses the HPC Cloud for this water research.

Own clusters

The Delft-based International Institute for Infrastructural Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), a UNESCO training institute, provides masters programmes and PhD tracks in water management. Students, teachers and researchers work there on research projects that require a lot of computing power and storage capacity. The HPC Cloud allows users to build their own clusters composed of virtual machines. That option fitted well with IHE's needs. Several students needed facilities for high-performance computing (HPC).

Modelling and simulation

Some 15 students and researchers use the HPC Cloud. "This mainly involves coastal projects, for example the behaviour of the sea near a delta," says researcher Gerald Corzo. "We look at morphological changes in the coastline, as well as navigation or the effects of storms. We do this using modelling and simulation. As a result, we want to calculate and evaluate a large number of scenarios."

"For evaluating large numbers of past and future scenarios, HPC Cloud is an efficient and flexible system"

Efficient and flexible

Modelling and simulation require a lot of computing power. Researchers at the IHE evaluate large numbers of past and future scenarios. "In this regard, HPC Cloud is an efficient and flexible system for us," Corzo states. "It only takes us 10 to 15 minutes to set up a computing environment. We can easily develop virtual machines on our own computers and then upload them to the HPC Cloud. Moreover, we can replicate those virtual machines an x number of times on the HPC Cloud, so we can easily scale up."

Workshops

SURF hosted two workshops at the IHE. "The first workshop was mainly about data-driven modelling and the requirements it places on the systems," says Corzo. "The second workshop was mainly aimed at our students, who got a good idea of the possibilities of high-performance computing in general and of the HPC Cloud in particular. That really opened the eyes of many students."

"We know where to turn when we need special requirements or additional computing power"

Cooperation

Corzo is positive about SURF's support: "We have a pleasant relationship with SURF and we get a lot of support. The same goes for our students. We know where to turn if we have special requirements or if we need additional computing power. Moreover, we have one contact person who knows our organisation well, which also makes a difference."