以GPU高速平行運算為核心的雲端運算服務中心 – Hoopoe (快來Hoopoe挖寶吧)

以GPU高速平行運算為核心的雲端運算服務中心 – Hoopoe (快來Hoopoe挖寶吧)

Hoopoe – Cloud Services for GPU Computing

http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/About.aspx

什麼是Hoopoe?

What is Hoopoe?
Hoopoe是一個致力於提供雲端運算服務的計畫, 其與眾不同的地方是, Hoopoe是以GPU高速平行運算為核心的雲端運算服務計畫, 使用許多最新的技術與工具.

Hoopoe提供一個使用GPU圖形處理器硬體高速運算的, 支持任何model的通用環境.

它讓使用者可以指定運算過程中想要使用的硬體, 或者很有彈性的讓系統自我選擇並非忙碌中的資源, 讓運算以最快的速度完成.

Hoopoe is a project that aims to provide cloud computing services, the same as in general computing, but for GPUs, using various technologies and tools.
It provides a general environment for running computations, of any kind and model, on GPU hardware.
Users may specify the type of hardware they wish to use during the computation or the system will use the available resources to complete the computation as fast as possible.

Hoopoe計畫名稱的由來

Origin of the name
Hoopoe是一種鳥類的名稱, 也是以色列建國60週年國鳥. 在希伯來文中, 這個名字念起來像是”Dukhifat”, 我們可以在許多希伯來文的文獻與聖經中看到Hoopoe的蹤影. 以Hoopoe鳥為計畫名稱, 約略反映出如”鳥”般”靈巧”的雲端計算.

Hoopoe is a bird, which was chosen to officially represent Israel at the 60's birthday celebrations. In Hebrew, the name is pronounced: "Dukhifat" and found in many literature sources, including the bible itself.
As being a bird, it reflects very well the idea of using services in a "cloud" oriented model.

Hoopoe如何能帶來好處?

Why is it good?
從資訊管理人員的角度來看, 建立並維持一個GPU圖形處理器的運算叢集不是一件簡單的事. 尤其是新的, 更快速的GPU圖形處理器不斷推陳出新的今日, 我們很難取捨於, 該繼續維持使用現有的設備, 還是大刀闊斧的更新為新一代的硬體?

Hoopoe可以為資訊管理人員解決以上的問題.

短期間使用或開發GPU高速平行運算的人有福了. 既然Hoopoe提供的是雲端運算服務, 那就表示沒有大筆的設備投入與維持的開銷, 取而代之的是, “用多少付多少”的費用計算. 當你暫時不使用GPU高速運算時, 你甚至不用花一毛錢.

Hoopoe讓需要圖形運算能力的團體, 於彈指之間獲得數千顆GPU圖形處理器的高速運算雲端服務, 而不需要冗長的硬體設施規劃/驗證/組裝/維護的時間與金錢成本.

Hoopoe不是簡單的雲端服務, 倚靠即時分散運算引擎的Hoopoe, 能迅速統整百萬顆GPU圖形的高速平行運算能力, 沒有絲毫損耗.

(註: 傳統CPU是序列運算架構, 當它要進行叢集多核運算時, 所耗損的運算能力太多, 所以CPU沒有競爭力.)

Maintaining a GPU cluster is not always simple, from IT aspects to general maintenance services. The same problem comes to play when a new generation of hardware is available. Should we leave the current investment and buy new hardware?

Hoopoe can answer most of these questions and problems.
As a cloud solution, it hides the maintenance costs from organizations, providing them with a Pay-Per-Use solution, if you don't use it, you don't pay for it.
It allows organizations get the power of thounsands of GPUs with a single click, without taking care of operational costs, general maintenance issues and distribution problems.

Because Hoopoe is not just a cloud service, it relies on a real-time distributing engine that can harness the power of millions of GPUs with no performance loss.
The distribution model used with Hoopoe, can help every organization fit the requested computation inside, and enjoy the flexibility of the distributed environment without spending too much effort on the distribution.

Hoopoe提供的服務

Provided services
Hoopoe提供以下兩種服務介面:

(1) 網頁服務的API(應用程序接口) – 允許各種技術與平台透過Hoopoe進行無阻礙的聯繫

(2) 網頁為基礎的GUI(圖形使用者介面) – 以圖形使用者介面提供與(1)相同功能的服務.

As part of Hoopoe, users are provided with two interfaces to communicate with the service:
(1) Web Service based API - To allow every technology and platform communicate with Hoopoe transparently
(2) Web based GUI - Which provides the same set of features for users as the Web Service API
運用以上兩種介面, 使用者可以:

* 管理Hoopoe上的工作 – 提出/取消/暫停/繼續/.. GPU高速平行運算工作.

* 監控已提出的工作排程, 包括排程狀態, 以及各種不同的資訊.

* 管理工作所需要的檔案與權限.
With these interfaces, users can:
* Manage tasks in Hoopoe - Submit, cancel, pause resume and more
* Monitor submitted tasks, including status information and various statistics
* Manage files to be used by tasks
The interfaces provided by Hoopoe can assist both automatic systems and individuals communicate with the system through the internet.

註: 以後若有機會, 我將繼續為各位介紹Hoopoe的各種GPU高速運算服務方案細節:

(1). CUDA.NET http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Solutions/CUDA.NET/Default.aspx è 已被下載逾兩萬次的CUDA.NET免費服務.

(2). OpenCL.NET http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Solutions/OpenCL.NET/Default.aspx è 與CUDA.NET類似, 只是改用OpenCL為基礎的, GPU高速運算.NET服務.

(3). Encodeo™ http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Apps/Encodeo.aspx è 轉檔在雲端? x10倍快的雲端影片轉檔服務.

(4). Vicodeo™ http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Solutions/VideoDecoding/Default.aspx è GPU加速的雲端影片解碼技術 (廣泛支持.NET, Java, Python各種語法).

(5). jCUDA http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Solutions/jCUDA/Default.aspx è 免費提供JAVA下的CUDA服務.

(6). Fortran CUDA http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Solutions/Fortran/Default.aspx è 免費提供Fortran下的CUDA服務.

(7). CUFFT Apps http://www.hoopoe-cloud.com/Apps/Default.aspx è 透過NVIDIA官方CUFFT Library的支持, Hoopoe持續延展並提供支持的應用程式.

看到很多寶貴的GPU高速運算資源, Hoopoe竟然都有提供免費服務嗎?

趕緊來Hoopoe挖寶吧…