RealityGrid: High performance grid computing, visualisation and computational steering.

Abstract

This talk will provide an overview of the very large ongoing UK initiative in scientific applications of grid computing, called "e-Science." In particular, it will focus on the RealityGrid project (http://www.realitygrid.org), funded by the British Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and involving partners at several UK, US and European universities, as well as a number of non-academic institutions. Its purpose is to develop and deploy grid-based middleware to assist in the advancement of condensed matter science in its widest sense, from computational fluid dynamics to biomacromolecular dynamics. RealityGrid also aims to actualise the concept of a distributed "Reality Centre," in which users perform high-performance scientific computation and "computational steering" - - interaction with remote computations on the fly through real-time visualisation. The project is already having an impact beyond its immediate confines, providing vital underpinning technology to a new UK pilot project in Integrative Biology, inter alia. It is also part of an ongoing effort to link the two UK high-performance computing facilities (CSAR and HPCx) with the US Extended Terascale Facilities through grid technology, offering the potential for vast geographically-distributed projects in computational science, with visualisation and collaboration conducted via the AccessGrid. This work will be exhibited at Supercomputing 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA (15-21 November 2003).