Daniel A . Reed

The views expressed in this report are those of the individual participants and are not necessarily those of their respective organizations or the workshop sponsor. 1 The most constant difficulty in contriving the engine has arisen from the desire to reduce the time in which the calculations were executed to the shortest which is possible. Preface Several recent developments in high-end computing (HEC) have stimulated a re-examination of current U.S. policies and approaches. These developments include: 1) the deployment of Japan's Earth System Simulator, which now occupies the number one position on the Top 500 list of the world's fastest computers; 2) concerns about the difficulty in achieving substantial fractions of peak hardware computational performance on high-end systems ; and 3) the ongoing complexity of developing, debugging, and optimizing applications for high-end systems. In addition, there is growing recognition that a new set of scientific and engineering discoveries could be catalyzed by access to very-large-scale computer systems — those in the 100 teraflop to petaflop range. Lastly, the need for high-end systems in support of national defense has led to new interest in high-end computing research, development , and procurement. In recognition of these developments, the FY03 federal budget included the following observations and guidance regarding high-end computing: Due to its impact on a wide range of federal agency missions ranging from national security and defense to basic science, high-end computing — or supercomputing — capability is becoming increasingly critical. Through the course of 2003, agencies involved in developing or using high-end computing will be engaged in planning activities to guide future investments in this area, coordinated through the NSTC. The activities will include the development of an interagency R&D roadmap for high-end computing core technologies, a federal high-end computing capacity and accessibility improvement plan, and a discussion of issues (along with recommendations where applicable) relating to federal procurement of high-end computing systems. The knowledge gained for this process will be used to guide future investments in this area. Research and software to support high-end computing will provide a foundation for future federal R&D by improving the effectiveness of core technologies on which next-generation high-end computing systems will rely. The interagency HECRTF was charged to develop a five-year plan to guide future federal investments in high-end computing. 2 To ensure broad input from the national community during its planning process, the HECRTF solicited public comments on current challenges and opportunities. …