7th EasyBuild User Meeting

Creating an Open HPC Ecosystem with RISC-V (recording @ YouTube – slides, PDF)
by John D. Davis (Barcelona Supercomputing Centre)

Over that last 3 decades, we have witnessed a transition from closed software ecosystems being the foundation for HPC, enterprise, and business to open source software ecosystems based on Linux: from Arduino in the IoT space, to Android in the mobile space, to Linux in HPC and cloud-based systems with various Open Source Software projects built on top.

However, when examining hardware, current commercial off the shelf solutions are closed hardware ecosystems that only enable integration at the peripheral (PCIe) level. The combination of current technology trends, the slowing of Moore’s Law, and cost prohibitive silicon manufacturing inhibit significant power-performance gains by relying on traditional closed ecosystems, especially in HPC, technology pushed to the extreme. This new regime forces systems to be much more specialized to achieve the power-performance profiles required for a supercomputer. In the past, HPC has led the way forward, defining the bleeding edge of technology. HPC can do this again with open hardware, as it has done in software with adopting Linux and open source in general. This is not only a technology imperative, but one born out of current geopolitics. Given this technology and geopolitical backdrop, we describe how Europe can exploit its resources targeting research and development for technological independence.

In this talk, first, we describe what RISC-V is. Next, using RISC-V as an instrument, provide a vision for the future and a collection of current research and innovation projects, infrastructure, and the community that are building the foundation for the future. This is a new opportunity for Europe to lead the way to an HPC Future that is Wide Open!

Attendance is free of cost. This is an open meeting, anybody interested is welcome to join.