Although commerce and consumers have been computing in the cloud for years, the high-performance computing sector has been more hesitant. But all that may now be changing.

The cost of cloud computing for HPC is falling, while new programming models that will allow HPC workloads to run more efficiently in the cloud are becoming available. “Public cloud” providers are installing hardware configurations that are more suited to HPC, while private clouds are giving users experience of how to run their jobs in a cloud environment. 

…Van Leeuwen makes a useful distinction that clarifies the different types of cloud technologies currently being used, by pointing to the difference between ‘cloud bursting’ and running HPC workloads on OpenStack in data centers. The difference is, he explained, that: “the original cloud-bursting scenario is about adding more capacity in a flexible way; whereas, if you have 100 servers in your data centre, by adding OpenStack to it you don’t get a single extra CPU cycle, you’re just redistributing it in a more effective, more efficient manner.”

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