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High Performance Computing in the Cloud

Understand the benefits and challenges of using cloud computing for high performance computing (HPC) workloads.

2,854 enrolled on this course

A room with computer server racks with lots of small flashing lights
  • Duration

    6 weeks
  • Weekly study

    6 hours

Understand high performance computing (HPC) in the cloud

This online course provides an advanced, graduate-level introduction to using cloud computing for high performance computing (HPC) workloads.

The course will cover a wide range of topics from cloud architecture and infrastructure supporting HPC to the business opportunities that are enabled by HPC in the cloud.

What topics will you cover?

The following topics will be covered in the course:

  • Virtualization and Containerization
  • Parallel Computing Frameworks
  • Scaling
  • HPC in the Cloud Use Cases
  • Cloud Service Orchestration and Resource Scheduling
  • Cloud Infrastructure for Supporting Heterogeneous Resources
  • CloudLightning Approach: Architecture Overview
  • Resource Management in CloudLightning

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • the range of activities associated with High Performance Computing and with Cloud Computing
  • the differences in ethos between HPC and Cloud
  • how the HPC and Cloud design spaces can be merged
  • the challenges of supporting high performance hardware in the cloud
  • on how the cloud is evolving to become heterogeneous
  • the challenges associated with Resource Management at scale
  • various techniques for Service Orchestration in the cloud
  • on the advantages of using self-organization for Resource Management at scale
  • on how successfully HPC workloads are being supported in the cloud

Who is the course for?

The course is aimed at students with experience and knowledge of high performance computing. You may have already completed the Supercomputing course on FutureLearn.

Who will you learn with?

Prof Morrison is the Director of the Centre for Unified Computing at UCC, Ireland and the coordinator of the H2020 project, CloudLightning: Self-organizing, self-managing Heterogeneous Cloud.

Theo Lynn is Professor of Digital Business at DCU Business School and PI of the Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce. He is also a PI on the EU Horizon 2020 RECAP and CloudLightning projects.

Anne C. Elster is a Professor of Computer Science at NTNU in Trondheim, Norway where she established HPC-Lab. She is also a current Visiting Scientist at the Univ. of Texas at Austin (ICES).

Dr. Giannoutakis is a Research Associate at ITI/CERTH. His research interests include HPC, scientific computing, parallel systems, grid/cloud computing and software engineering techniques.

I am a Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Democritus University of Thrace. My research interests are computational methods and applied mathematics.

Professor at Computer Science Department of West University of Timisoara, scientific manager of its supercomputing center, and researcher at Institute e-Austria Timisoara.

Who developed the course?

Dublin City University

Dublin City University is a young, dynamic and ambitious Irish university with a distinctive mission to transform lives and societies through education, research and innovation.

Cloud Lightning

CloudLightning is a three-year €4M research project to address energy efficiency and high performance in cloud computing. It is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.

University College Cork

UCC is an award-winning institution with a history of independent thinking stretching back over 170 years. UCC is proud to be ranked in the top 2% of universities in the world.

Endorsers and supporters

supported by

Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce logo

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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