# Presentation: 261088

## 	Gold is an open source allocation system that controls project usage on High Performance Computers.

**Allocation Manager**

- Ensures resources are used according to mission plan
- Tracks resource utilization
- Allows for insightful capacity planning
- Facilitates resource sharing between organizations
- Used in production at PNNL and other sites

## Background

- _[SciDAC](http://www.osti.gov/scidac/)_
- Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing – A DOE initiative to improve the impact of scientific computing.
- Scalable Systems Software Project (SSS)
- Research, develop and support an integrated suite of systems software and tools for the effective management and utilization of DOE’s terascale computational resources. It is a 5 year project involving over a dozen sites.
- QBank
- Gold is based on a successful program, QBank, that has been used for years on government and university computing systems.

## Allocation Architecture

| Time Period | Allocation |
| --- | --- |
| F1Q04 | 1,000,000 |
| F2Q04 | 1,000,000 |
| F3Q04 | 1,000,000 |
| F4Q04 | 1,000,000 |

- Universe
- of
- Projects

- Account: 1234
- Name:	Chemistry

- Universe
- of
- Users

- Universe
- of
- Machines

- Account: 1234
- Name:	Chemistry

| Time Period | Allocation | Credit Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| F1Q04 | 1,000,000 | 10,000 |
| F2Q04 | 1,000,000 | 10,000 |
| F3Q04 | 1,000,000 | 10,000 |
| F4Q04 | 1,000,000 | 10,000 |

## Capacity and Workload Planning:The Brick Approach

- Now

- - 1 Qtr

- + 3 Qtr

- + 2 Qtr

- + 1 Qtr

- - 3 Qtr

- - 2 Qtr

- + 4 Qtr

- 100 % Capacity

## Reservations and Dynamic Charging

**Accounting Manager (Gold)**

**Deposit**

**0   Deposits are made in Account**

**1   A Job is Submitted**

**2   A Quote is Requested**

**Quote**

**3   A Reservation is Made**

**Scheduler**
**(Maui)**

**4   The Job is allowed to Start**

**Reservation**

**5   The Job Completes**

**Resource Manager**
**(PBS, LL, LSF)**

**6   The Reservation is Removed**

**Reservation**

**    ****and a Charge is Issued**

## Expiring Allocations

## Other Gold Features

**Flexible Charging**

**Credit and Debit Models**

**Guaranteed Quotes**

**Powerful Querying**

- CPU

- Memory

- Disk

- QOS

## Other Gold Features

**Strong Security**

**Historical Journaling**

**Transparency Features**

- Customizable
- Accounting

**Dynamically Customizable**

## Web-based GUI

- Facilitates Resource Sharing Between Organizations

## Status

- Status:
- Currently in second beta release
- In production use at PNNL 11.8 TF system
- 	and at least one other site – being evaluated at others
- General release targeting 3rd quarter of 2005
- Download:
- _[http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/docs/mscf/gold](http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/docs/mscf/gold)_
- For more information:
- _[Scott.Jackson@pnl.gov](mailto:Scott.Jackson@pnl.gov)_
- _[http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/docs/mscf/gold](http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/docs/mscf/gold)_
- _[http://](http://sss.scl.ameslab.gov/home.shtml)__[sss.scl.ameslab.gov/home.shtml](http://sss.scl.ameslab.gov/home.shtml)_
- _[http://www.scidac.org/ScalableSystems](http://www.scidac.org/ScalableSystems)_

## Additional Slides

## Typical problems faced by HPC managers

| Problem | Solution |
| --- | --- |
| Resources are hogged by the projects or project members that submit jobs most aggressively | Fine-grained allocations |
| Projects start slow then simultaneously demand their entire allocations be fulfilled at end of project cycle | Expiring allocations (use-it-or-lose-it) |
| Users can exceed their allocations until accounting is synchronized with resource management system | Dynamic Charging, Reservations |
| Would like to delegate the management and distribution of credits to established project management hierarchy | Role-based AC,          Nested accounts |
| Want to share resources with other organizations but face issues of security, autonomy and accountability | Strong security, Distrd accounting, Charge quotes |
| Each site wants to track and perform historical queries on site-specific accounting statistics | Custom accounting, Flexible charging, Journaling |
| You want the accounting system to be transparent to the user | Default projects, Credit accounts, Auto-generation |

## Nested Accounts

- University

- Biology

- Actinides

- Chem 201

- Physics

- Chem 101

- Chemistry

- Workshop

- 25

- 25

- 25

- 40

- 40

- 50

- 40

## Gold Welcome Screen

## List Accounts

## Modify Projects

## Account Statement