Supercomputers: Government Plans and Policies March 1986 NTIS order #PB86-205218 Recommended Citation: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Supercomputers: Government Plans & Policies–A Background Paper, OTA-BP-CIT-31 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, March 1986). Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 86-600508 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 Foreword Supercomputers: Government Plans and Policies, presents a review of the Fed- eral Government’s large-scale computing programs and examines the network- ing and software programs within selected agencies. Certain management and institutional questions pertinent to the Federal efforts are also raised and discussed. This background paper was requested by the House Committee on Science and Technology. Within the past 2 years, there has been a notable expansion in the Federal supercomputer programs and this increase prompted the committee’s request for a review of issues of resource management, networking, and the role of supercomputers in basic research. OTA gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the many experts, within and outside the government, who served as workshop participants, contractors, and reviewers of this document. As with all OTA reports, however, the content is the responsibility of OTA and does not necessarily constitute the consensus or endorsement of the workshop participants or the Technology Assessment Board. Director .,. Ill OTA Project Staff—Supercomputers: Government Plans and Policies John Andelin, Assistant Director, OTA Science, Information, and Natural Resources Division Frederick W. Weingarten, Communication and Information Technologies Program Manager Project Staff Prudence S. Adler, Study Director Contractor Susan P. Walton, Editor Administrative Staff Elizabeth A. Emanuel Shirley Gayheart* Patricia M. Keville Audrey Newman *Deceased, Dec. 1 I, 1985. iv Supercomputers Workshop Participants Kent K. Curtis Paul Schneck Director Director Division of Computer Research Supercomputing Research Center National Science Foundation Institute for Defense Analyses James Decker Jacob Schwartz Deputy Director Director U.S. Department of Energy Division of Computer Sciences Courant Institute of Mathematical Sidney Fernbach Sciences Consultant New York University Control Data Corp. Joe Wyatt Robert Gillespie Chancellor Gillespie, Folkner & Associates Vanderbilt University Contractors Ira Fuchs Robert Gillespie Educom Gillespie, Folkner, & Associates Reviewers Albert Brenner Sidney Fernbach Director Consultant Consortium for Scientific Computing Control Data Corp. John Connolly Craig Fields Director Deputy Director Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Engineering Applications Office National Science Foundation Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Kent K. Curtis Director Robert Gillespie Division of Computer Research Gillespie F’olkner & Associates National Science Foundation Randy Graves James Decker Deputy Director Deputy Director Aerodynamics Division U.S. Department of Energy National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earl Dowdy Research Analyst Dennis Jennings Program Director for Networking David J. Farber National Science Foundation Department of Electrical Engineering University of Delaware Sid Karin Jacob Schwartz Director Director Advanced Scientific Computer Center Division of Computer Science Courant Institute of Mathematical Lawrence Landweber Sciences Department of Computer Science New York University University of Wisconsin, Madison Joe Wyatt Lewis Peach Chancellor Numerical Aerodynamics Simulation Vanderbilt University Program National Aeronautics and Space Administration Paul Schneck Director Supercomputing Research Center Institute for Defense Analyses vi Contents Page INTRODUCTION. 1 PRINCIPAL FINDINGS . 4 NATIONAL POLICY . 6 NATIONAL GOALS . 8 CURRENT FEDERAL PROGRAMS . .......11 National Science Foundation . .......11 National Aeronautics and Space Administration . .13 Department of Energy . .......14 Supercomputing Research Center, National Security Agency . .. .....15 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. ...16 NETWORKS . .......17 National Science Foundation . .17 Department of Energy . ...18 National Aeronautics and Space Administration . .19 SOFTWARE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT . .......20 National Science Foundation . ....21 National Aeronautics and Space Administration . .21 Supercomputing Research Center . .......21 Department of Energy . ...21 ISSUES:MANAGEMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS ......22 Coordination. .......22 Center Management . .....23 Problems and Prospects for Software Development . .......25 Network Design and Development . .......27 Tables Table No. Page l. Partial List of Problems/Applications That Will Benefit From Use of Large-Scale Facilities . 9 2. NSF/OASC Budget. .....11 3. NAS Development Budget . .......14 4.DOE Budget . .......15 5. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Budget. ..16 6.DOE Network Budget . .19 ‘7.NASA Network NAS Budget . .......19 Figures Figure No. Page l. Current and Projected Supercomputers, 1960-90 . 2 2. Range of Federal Policies Possible With a Supercomputer 200 Times the Current Capabilities . ..10 vii INTRODUCTION The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) the von Neumann design. Called “vector” ma- recently completed a report entitled Informa- chines, they gain their speed by breaking up tion Technology R&D: Critical Trends and Is- computational tasks (such as addition and mul- sues. This report explored the structure and tiplication) into separate “pipelines,” which al- orientation of selected foreign programs, is- lows certain problems to be executed far faster. sues of manpower, institutional change, new (See figure 1.) research organizations developing out of Bell Most computer scientists have concluded Laboratories, and trends in science and tech- nology policy. Four specific areas of research: that the sequential, von Neumann design can no longer sustain the rapid growth to which advanced computer architecture, artificial in- we have become accustomed (though compo- telligence, fiber optics, and software engineer- ] ing were also examined. To supplement this nent speeds will continue to improve). They are looking elsewhere for new design ideas, and earlier work, the House Committee on Science their interest has turned to parallelism. In a and Technology requested that OTA examine parallel machine, rather than one processor issues of resource management, networking, working sequentially on the steps of solving and the role of supercomputers in basic re- a problem, many processors work simultane- search. This background paper will explore is- sues raised in the earlier R&D assessment and ously on the computation. This interest in par- allel design is based on three propositions: examine new and ongoing Federal programs in large-scale computer research. 1. the parallel computer will theoretically be far more powerful than the current von Supercomputer is the term applied to the Neumann design; class of the most powerful computers available 2. the parallel multiprocessor could be less at any particular time. The cost/performance ratio of all classes of computers, from the costly for a given task, especially when largest to the smallest, continues to decrease utilizing mass production technologies; and rapidly, and today’s desk-top computer has parallel architectures will achieve higher the power that years ago was available only 3. — computational speeds. in mainframes. Speed is gained both by im- proving the logical design of the computer and As the Federal Government sponsors more by making electronic components of the ma- and more research in parallel computation, it chine operate faster. Hence, each generation is important to recognize this new design of supercomputers has tested many new de- direction as a key component of the govern- sign ideas and component technologies that ment’s computer research effort. At the same were later introduced in smaller, less expen- time, it must be recognized that computer sive machines. scientists and mathematicians are only begin- ning to understand how to use optimally the Since the 1950s most large computers have types of highly parallel designs that computer shared an architecture named for John von architects are exploring. Because of the grow- Neumann, a prominent mathematician who ing importance of parallel computation, the played a major role in the invention and de- terms “largescale computing” and “advanced velopment of the digital computer. In the von scientific computing’ refer in this background Neumann architecture, data and program in- structions both reside in memory, and instruc- paper to both current vector supercomputers tions are acted on one by one, sequentially by that employ von Neumann architecture and the “processor” (other parts are the “control” systems based on multiprocessor technologies. and the ‘‘memory’ ‘). Many of the supercom- ‘U.S. Congress, office of TechnoIog~ Assessment, ,llicro- puters now popular, such as the Cray 1 and electronics Research and De\.elopment —A Background Paper, OTA-BP-CIT-40 (Washington, DC: [J. S, Government Printing the Cyber 205, are still based on variations of office, March 1986). 2 Figure l.— Current and Projected Supercomputers, 1960-90 I I I I I I 10’ ~ -Denelcc HEP 2 10’ ..,1 v Cray X-MP148 Cray-” 10 Approximate year of introduction ( I I 1 I 10 I r I 1 I 1 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2005 SOURCE Sidney Fernbach 3 Federal interest in largescale computing