support_team's blog

Artificial intelligence

support_team — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 04:05:57 +0000

Artificial intelligence (AI, also machine intelligence, MI) is Intelligence displayed by machines, in contrast with the natural intelligence (NI) displayed by humans and other animals. In computer science AI research is defined as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal. Colloquially, the term "artificial intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem solving".

The scope of AI is disputed: as machines become increasingly capable, tasks considered as requiring "intelligence" are often removed from the definition, a phenomenon known as the AI effect, leading to the quip "AI is whatever hasn't been done yet." For instance, optical character recognition is frequently excluded from "artificial intelligence", having become a routine technology. Capabilities generally classified as AI as of 2017 include successfully understanding human speech, competing at a high level in strategic game systems (such as chess and Go, autonomous cars, intelligent routing in content delivery networks, military simulations, and interpreting complex data, including images and videos.

Artificial intelligence was founded as an academic discipline in 1956, and in the years since has experienced several waves of optimism, followed by disappointment and the loss of funding (known as an "AI winter"), followed by new approaches, success and renewed funding.^{[citation needed]} For most of its history, AI research has been divided into subfields that often fail to communicate with each other.

The traditional problems (or goals) of AI research include reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, natural language processing, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects. General intelligence is among the field's long-term goals. Approaches include statistical methods, computational intelligence, and traditional symbolic AI. Many tools are used in AI, including versions of search and mathematical optimization, neural networks and methods based on statistics, probability and economics. The AI field draws upon computer science, mathematics, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, artificial psychology and many others.

The field was founded on the claim that human intelligence "can be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it". This raises philosophical arguments about the nature of the mind and the ethics of creating artificial beings endowed with human-like intelligence, issues which have been explored by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity. Some people also consider AI a danger to humanity if it progresses unabatedly.

In the twenty-first century, AI techniques have experienced a resurgence following concurrent advances in computer power, large amounts of data, and theoretical understanding; and AI techniques have become an essential part of the technology industry, helping to solve many challenging problems in computer science.

HA In Cluster

support_team — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 10:05:59 +0000

High-availability clusters (also known as HA clusters or fail-over clusters) are groups of computers that support server applications that can be reliably utilized with a minimum amount of down-time. They operate by using high availability software to harness redundant computers in groups or clusters that provide continued service when system components fail. Without clustering, if a server running a particular application crashes, the application will be unavailable until the crashed server is fixed. HA clustering remedies this situation by detecting hardware/software faults, and immediately restarting the application on another system without requiring administrative intervention, a process known as failover. As part of this process, clustering software may configure the node before starting the application on it. For example, appropriate file systems may need to be imported and mounted, network hardware may have to be configured, and some supporting applications may need to be running as well.

InfiniBand

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 11:24:13 +0000

InfiniBand (abbreviated IB) is a computer-networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also used as either a direct or switched interconnect between servers and storage systems, as well as an interconnect between storage systems.

As of 2014 it was the most commonly used interconnect in supercomputers. Mellanox and Intel manufacture InfiniBand host bus adapters and network switches, and in February 2016 it was reported that Oracle Corporation had engineered its own Infiniband switch units and server adapter chips for use in its own product lines and by third parties. Mellanox IB cards are available for Solaris, RHEL, SLES, Windows, HP-UX, VMware ESX, and AIX. It is designed to be scalable and uses a switched fabric network topology.

As an interconnect, IB competes with Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and proprietary technologies such as Intel Omni-Path.

The technology is promoted by the InfiniBand Trade Association.

InfiniBand is a type of communications link for data flow between processors and I/O devices that offers throughput of up to 2.5 gigabytes per second and support for up to 64,000 addressable devices. Because it is also scalable and supports quality of service (QoS) and failover, InfiniBand is often used as a server connect in high-performance computing (HPC) environments.

The internal data flow system in most PCs and server systems is inflexible and relatively slow. As the amount of data coming into and flowing between components in the computer increases, the existing bus system becomes a bottleneck. Instead of sending data in parallel (typically 32 bits at a time, but in some computers 64 bits) across the backplane bus, InfiniBand specifies a serial (bit-at-a-time) bus. Fewer pins and other electrical connections are required, saving manufacturing cost and improving reliability. The serial bus can carry multiple channels of data at the same time in a multiplexing signal. InfiniBand also supports multiple memory areas, each of which can addressed by both processors and storage devices.

The InfiniBand Trade Association views the bus itself as a switch because control information determines the route a given message follows in getting to its destination address. InfiniBand uses Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), which enables an almost limitless amount of device expansion.

With InfiniBand, data is transmitted in packets that together form a communication called a message. A message can be a remote direct memory access (RDMA) read or write operation, a channel send or receive message, a reversible transaction-based operation or a multicast transmission. Like the channel model many mainframe users are familiar with, all transmission begins or ends with a channel adapter. Each processor (your PC or a data center server, for example) has what is called a host channel adapter (HCA) and each peripheral device has a target channel adapter (TCA). These adapters can potentially exchange information that ensures security or work with a given Quality of Service level.

The InfiniBand specification was developed by merging two competing designs, Future I/O, developed by Compaq, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard, with Next Generation I/O, developed by Intel, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems.

Lustre (file system)

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 11:15:48 +0000

Lustre is a type of parallel distributed file system, generally used for large-scale cluster computing. The name Lustre is a portmanteau word derived from Linux and cluster. Lustre file system software is available under the GNU General Public License (version 2 only) and provides high performance file systems for computer clusters ranging in size from small workgroup clusters to large-scale, multi-site clusters.

Because Lustre file systems have high performance capabilities and open licensing, it is often used in supercomputers. Since June 2005, it has consistently been used by at least half of the top ten, and more than 60 of the top 100 fastest supercomputers in the world, including the world's No. 2 and No. 3 ranked TOP500 supercomputers in 2014, Titan and Sequoia.

Lustre file systems are scalable and can be part of multiple computer clusters with tens of thousands of client nodes, tens of petabytes (PB) of storage on hundreds of servers, and more than a terabyte per second (TB/s) of aggregate I/O throughput.This makes Lustre file systems a popular choice for businesses with large data centers, including those in industries such as meteorology, simulation, oil and gas, life science, rich media, and finance

Frequently used Applications On Computational WEATHER MODELING

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 10:06:59 +0000

1.Aermod (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) is a steady-state plume model that incorporates air dispersion based on planetary boundary layer turbulence structure and scaling concepts, including treatment of both surface and elevated sources, and both simple and complex terrain.

2.The Advanced Regional Prediction (ARPS) is a comprehensive regional to stormscale atmospheric modeling/prediction system. It is a complete system that includes a realtime data analysis and assimilation system, a forward prediction model and a post-analysis package. The ARPS was initially developed at the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS) at the University of Oklahoma, under the support of the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center (STC) program. CAPS will continue to improve and support the use of ARPS.

3.CALMET is a diagnostic meteorological model which reconstructs the 3D wind and temperature fields starting from meteorological measurements, orography and land use data. Besides the wind and temperature fields, CALMET determines the 2D fields of micro meteorological variables needed to carry out dispersion simulations (mixing height, Monin Obukhov length, friction velocity, convective velocity and others).

4.CALPUFF is an advanced non-steady-state meteorological and air quality modeling system developed by Exponent scientists. It is maintained by the model developers and distributed by Exponent. The model has been adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in its Guideline on Air Quality Models as the preferred model for assessing long range transport of pollutants and their impacts on Federal Class I areas and on a case-by-case basis for certain near-field applications involving complex meteorological conditions.

5.CAMx is an Eulerian (gridded) regional photochemical dispersion model that allows for integrated â€œone-atmosphereâ€ assessments of tropospheric air pollution (ozone, particulate matter, air toxics) over spatial scales ranging from neighborhoods to continents.

6.CMAQ is an active open-source development project of the U.S. EPA Atmospheric Science Modeling Division that consists of a suite of programs for conducting air quality model simulations. CMAQ is supported and distributed by the CMAS Center. CMAQ combines current knowledge in atmospheric science and air quality modeling with multi-processor computing techniques in an open-source framework to deliver fast, technically sound estimates of ozone, particulates, toxics, and acid deposition.

7.The PSU/NCAR mesoscale model (known as MM5) is a limited-area, nonhydrostatic, terrain-following sigma-coordinate model designed to simulate or predict mesoscale atmospheric circulation. The model is supported by several pre- and post-processing programs, which are referred to collectively as the MM5 modeling system. The MM5 modeling system software is mostly written in Fortran, and has been developed at Penn State and NCAR as a community mesoscale model with contributions from users worldwide.

8.RAMS (Regional Atmospheric Modeling System) is a highly versatile numerical code developed by scientists at Colorado State University for simulating and forecasting meteorological phenomena and for depicting the results.

9.SMOKE input data consist of emissions inventories, temporal and chemical speciation profiles, spatial surrogates, gridded meteorology and land use data, and other ancillary files for specifying the timing, location, and chemical nature of emissions.

Frequently used Applications On Computational PHYSICS

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 10:03:50 +0000

1.Automatic Dynamic Incremental Nonlinear Analysis (ADINA) is a finite element analysis (FEA) suite of tools providing a comprehensive FEA solution for modeling structures, fluids, heat transfer, electromagnetics, and multiphysics.

2.The COMSOL Multiphysics software is a simulation software tool used to model and simulate physics-based challenges and build simulation-specific applications. This simulation platform is designed with ease-of-use in mind, featuring a streamlined workflow and the ability to address multiphysics problems. Over 30 available add-on products help expand upon the capabilities of COMSOL Multiphysics.

Frequently used Applications On Computational MOLECULAR DYNAMICS

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 10:02:00 +0000

1.Atomistix ToolKit (ATK) offers unique capabilities for simulating electrical transport properties of nanodevices on the atomic scale. Based on an open architecture which integrates a powerful scripting language with a graphical user interface, ATK is a comprehensive platform for studies in nanoelectronics, using both accurate first-principles (DFT) and fast semi-empirical methods and classical potentials. Moreover, ATK includes a very advanced electrostatic model to allow realistic simulations of nanoscale transistor structures.

2.AutoDock is a suite of automated docking tools. It is designed to predict how small molecules, such as substrates or drug candidates, bind to a receptor of known 3D structure. AutoDock Vina is an open-source program for doing molecular docking. It was designed and implemented by Dr. Oleg Trott in the Molecular Graphics Lab at The Scripps Research Institute.

3.UCSF Chimera is a highly extensible program for interactive visualization and analysis of molecular structures and related data, including density maps, supramolecular assemblies, sequence alignments, docking results, trajectories and conformational ensembles. High-quality images and animations can be generated.

4.DOCK addresses the problem of â€œdockingâ€ molecules to each other. In general, â€œdockingâ€ is the identification of the low-energy binding modes of a small molecule, or ligand, within the active site of a macromolecule, or receptor, whose structure is known. A compound that interacts strongly with, or binds, a receptor associated with a disease may inhibit its function and thus act as a drug. Solving the docking problem computationally requires an accurate representation of the molecular energetics as well as an efficient algorithm to search the potential binding modes.

Frequently used Applications On Computational MATHEMATICS

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 09:32:05 +0000

1.Atlas (Automatically Tuned Linear Algebra Software) is a powerful application for performing differential geometry calculations, from formulating and solving 2D and 3D problems to working with an n-dimensional manifold as a whole.

2.GNU Octave is a high-level interpreted language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It provides capabilities for the numerical solution of linear and nonlinear problems, and for performing other numerical experiments.

3.Maple is the essential technical computing software for todayâ€™s engineers and scientists. Whether you need to do quick calculations, develop design sheets, or produce sophisticated high-fidelity simulation models, Maple provides the necessary technology to reduce errors and dramatically increase your analytical productivity at every stage of the design process.

Frequently Used Applications On COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 09:28:22 +0000

1.The AVL EXCITE product family is a powertrain-oriented rigid and flexible multi-body dynamic analysis solution which provides advanced techniques to calculate the dynamics, strengths, vibration and acoustics of combustion engines, transmissions and conventional or electrified powertrains and drivelines.
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2.BOXERMesh is an advanced, highly automated, unstructured mesher with robust support for importing both standards-based and popular vendor-specific CAD files. BOXERMesh delivers quality multi-million cell meshes in minutes on geometries of arbitrary complexity and size.
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3.CalculiX is a package designed to solve field problems. The method used is the finite element method. With CalculiX Finite Element Models can be build, calculated and post-processed. The pre- and post-processor is an interactive 3D-tool using the openGL API.
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4.Cart3D is a high-fidelity inviscid aerodynamic analysis package for conceptual and preliminary aerodynamic design. It allows users to perform automated CFD analysis on arbitrarily complex geometry. The package includes utilities for geometry import, surface modeling and intersection, mesh generation, flow simulation, and post-processing of results. The main simulation code, flowCart, runs in parallel both in shared memory (OpenMP) and distributed memory (MPI) with excellent scalability.

5.CASE (Cylinder Kit Analysis System for Engines) is a complete software tool for parametric studies of the ring-pack and piston of internal combustion engines. It is used for predicting blowby, cylinder wear, energy losses, and many other dynamic and tribological phenomena.
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6.CFD++ can efficiently solve incompressible and compressible flows including both single and multispecies reacting flows, conjugate heat transfer, porous media, rotating machinery, and multiphase flows for both steady and unsteady cases. CFD++ allows for very simple treatment of complex models due to its unification of structured, unstructured, multiblock, and complex overset and patched non-aligned grids.
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7.Code Aster is a software package for civil and structural engineering, finite element analysis, and numerical simulation. It was originally developed by the French company EDF and released as open source software. It is particularly rich in constitutive laws, finite elements, loading types and nonlinear simulations (material, large transformation and contact).
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8.CONVERGE is a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package that is loaded with physical models for spray, turbulence (including LES), and combustion. CONVERGE is widely used in in the internal combustion engine design community due to its ability to generate high-quality orthogonal and body-fitted meshes automatically at runtime, and also due to its adaptive mesh refinement implementation.
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9.Cradle SC/Tetra is usability-focused software with the specific goal of easily enabling calculation of complex geometries. It provides both automatic mesh generation and a Wizard based interface that guides the user through the set-up process step by step. In addition to simulating standard fluid flow and heat transfer applications, SC/Tetra can calculate various phenomena such as Chemical Reactions, Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian for moving and/or rotating boundaries (ALE), Human Body Thermoregulation (JOS), Free Surfaces and Acoustics.
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10.CRUNCH CFD is an unstructured grid flow solver with multi-physics simulation capabilities. Advanced models for turbulence, cavitation, combustion, and cryogenics are available. CRUNCH CFD also features an extensive list of simulation tools, including non-ideal EOS, mesh motion/adaptation, hybrid LES/RANS and detailed chemical reactions.
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11.EnSight reads data from many different engineering simulation programs and breathes life into it. Files full of dull numbers are converted by EnSight into airplanes, engines, cars, buses, trucks, ships, factories, and more that you can rotate, pan, and zoom through. EnSight makes that data interactive, plottable, searchable, and exportable.

12.GENESIS is a fully integrated finite element analysis and design optimization software package. Analysis is based on the finite element method for static, normal modes, direct and modal frequency analysis, random response analysis, heat transfer, and system buckling calculations. Design is based on the advanced approximation concepts approach to find an optimum design efficiently and reliably.
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13.Gerris is an open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package written in C that solves the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in 2- or 3- dimensions. Gerrisâ€™ implementation and accurate formulation of multiphase flows (including surface tension) is the reason why the software shares the same name as the insect.

14.GT-SUITE is a product of Gamma Technologies (GTI), a specialist software company which is solely focused on the Engine and Vehicle Industry. GT-SUITE handles, in a single software tool, a wide variety of vehicle and engine technical applications.
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15.HELYX is a comprehensive general purpose Computational Fluid Dynamics software solution for engineering analysis and optimization based around ENGYSâ€™ own enhanced version of the OpenFOAM library. ENGYSâ€™ personnel involvement with FOAM and OpenFOAM dates back to 1999, providing unparalleled knowledge and expertise in the development, integration and application of this tool for industry. We take advantage of this experience to offer a unique product that combines the best of both worlds: the proven capabilities, support and reliability of commercial tools with the inherent advantages of cost-effective, scalable open-source solutions.

16.MADYMO (MAthematical DYnamic MOdels) is the worldwide standard software for analyzing and optimizing occupant safety designs. It is without rival for its accuracy, efficiency and versatility. Using MADYMO, researchers and engineers can model, thoroughly analyze and optimize safety designs early in the development process. This reduces the expense and time involved in building and testing prototypes. Adopting MADYMO also minimizes the risk of making design changes late in the development phase. For new or improved vehicle models and components, MADYMO cuts cost and reduces the time-to-market substantially.

17.OpenFOAM (Open-source Field Operation And Manipulation) is a C++ toolbox for the development of customized numerical solvers, and pre-/post-processing utilities for the solution of continuum mechanics problems, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

18.ParaView is an open source multiple-platform application for interactive, scientific visualization. The data exploration can be done interactively in 3D or programmatically using ParaViewâ€™s batch processing capabilities.

19.PTC Creo Simulate is a structural, thermal, and vibration analysis solution with a comprehensive set of capabilities that allow you to study how your 3D virtual prototypes will perform prior to making the first physical part.

20.PyFR is an open-source Python based framework for solving advection-diffusion type problems on streaming architectures using the Flux Reconstruction approach of Huynh. The framework is designed to solve a range of governing systems on mixed unstructured grids containing various element types. It is also designed to target a range of hardware platforms via use of an in-built domain specific language derived from the Mako templating engine.

21.SHIPFLOW is optimized for ship hydrodynamics design. The world standard for ship hydrodynamics CFD. Developed by naval architects, physicists and numerical analysts.

22.Star-CD allows for analysis of in-cylinder flow and combustion to be well established. The demands for accuracy, flexibility and turnaround have never been greater as designers face huge challenges to satisfy legislation, deliver performance and lower cost.

23.VECTIS is a three-dimensional fluid dynamics program that has been developed specifically to address fluid flow simulations in the vehicle and engine industries. VECTIS is developed around a completely automatic mesh generator, providing a rapid turnaround time for CFD analyses. The fully automatic mesh generator, unique to VECTIS, provides a distinct advantage over most other commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools; in that it ensures CFD is an integral part of modern engineering development programs.

24.WAVE is a 1-D engine and gas dynamics simulation package from Ricardo Software. WAVE enables vehicle performance simulations to be carried out based on virtually any intake, combustion, and exhaust system configuration. Also included is a drivetrain model that enables complete vehicle simulations.

25.XFlow is a next generation CFD software system that uses a proprietary state-of-the-art Lattice Boltzmann technology, and is specifically designed for companies who require accurate feedback on flow simulation, transient aerodynamics, water management and fluid-structure interaction.

Frequently used Applications on Computational BIOLOGY

support_team — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 09:20:00 +0000

1.Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) is a sequence comparison algorithm optimized for speed and used to search DNA and protein sequence databases for optimal local alignments to a query.
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2.CLC Assembly Cell is a high-performance computing solution for read mapping and de novo assembling of next generation sequencing data. With the command-line interface of CLC Assembly Cell, you can easily include these functionalities in scripts and other next generation sequencing workflows. It is easy to install on your desktop computer or a larger compute cluster. CLC Assembly Cell is accelerated through advanced algorithm implementations: they use the SIMD instruction set to parallelize and accelerate compute intensive parts of the algorithms, and make the software one of the fastest and most accurate packages for NGS data analysis on the market.
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3.Gero is a drug discovery company creating first in class small molecule therapeutics using proprietary, industry leading molecular modeling methods and systems biology technologies.
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4.Glide offers the full range of speed vs. accuracy options, from the HTVS (high-throughput virtual screening) mode for efficiently enriching million compound libraries, to the SP (standard precision) mode for reliably docking tens to hundreds of thousands of ligand with high accuracy, to the XP (extra precision) mode where further elimination of false positives is accomplished by more extensive sampling and advanced scoring, resulting in even higher enrichment.
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5.HMMER is used for searching sequence databases for homologs of protein sequences, and for making protein sequence alignments. It implements methods using probabilistic models called profile hidden Markov models (profile HMMs). HMMER is often used together with a profile database, such as Pfam or many of the databases that participate in Interpro. But HMMER can also work with query sequences, not just profiles, just like BLAST.
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6.MrBayes is a program for the Bayesian estimation of phylogeny. Bayesian inference of phylogeny is based upon a quantity called the posterior probability distribution of trees, which is the probability of a tree conditioned on the observations. The conditioning is accomplished using Bayesâ€™s theorem. The posterior probability distribution of trees is impossible to calculate analytically; instead, MrBayes uses a simulation technique called Markov chain Monte Carlo (or MCMC) to approximate the posterior probabilities of trees.
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