April 2016 Summaries

Eco-Runner Team Delft, a multi-disciplinary student team from Delft University of Technology, focuses on designing and building highly efficient hydrogen-powered vehicles, with their efforts supported by advanced computational tools like Rescale's cloud simulation platform. The team has been refining fuel-efficient cars for over a decade, emphasizing low resistance and aerodynamic efficiency, crucially aided by Rescale's capabilities in minimizing drag resistance through comprehensive simulations. By leveraging XFlow software for boundary layer analysis and 3D pressure distribution studies, they assessed the impact of side winds and utilized a cost-effective Nickel hardware configuration to enhance model fidelity. This approach enabled detailed concept comparisons and a significant iteration in their design process, ultimately optimizing the vehicle's efficiency before implementation. Known for their participation in the Shell Eco-Marathon, the team achieved a notable victory in 2015, demonstrating their commitment to innovation in hydrogen vehicle technology.

Microsoft's introduction of Azure Linux RDMA support has been beneficial for running high-performance computing (HPC) workloads in the cloud, yet setting it up remains challenging due to limited documentation. The available tutorial primarily utilizes the older ASM model for deploying virtual machines, whereas Microsoft advises using ARM for its parallel provisioning capability, which reduces startup time for larger clusters. Users may encounter issues such as missing repositories in the vanilla SLES VHD, which can be resolved by re-adding them to access a wider range of packages. Additionally, updating RDMA drivers may be necessary despite outdated guidance against doing so in certain regions, as it resolves DAPL errors. After installing the OSTC Extension, users might experience dropped SSH connections due to VM reboots, which should be considered when automating cluster deployments. Rescale’s support team offers assistance with further setup and tuning of HPC software on Azure, ensuring efficient cluster utilization.

Rescale recently revamped its pricing and hardware selection pages to enhance user experience and visibility of pricing details. The updated pricing page features a dynamic chart that allows users to filter and compare various pricing options, such as Prepaid and Instant/On-Demand, while also offering the ability to switch between Linux and Windows configurations and download the chart as a PDF. The hardware selection page now includes a fixed hardware summary element in the side navigation for easier tracking during job setup, alongside streamlined number entry fields for core selection, replacing the previous slider method. These changes are part of Rescale's commitment to a user-first approach, informed by feedback from support channels, sales insights, and user testing to address user needs comprehensively. CTO Adam McKenzie, who previously worked at Boeing on the 787 project, oversees these improvements, ensuring that the company's design and product strategies align with user behavior and satisfaction.