What It Actually Takes to Run Code on 200M€ Supercomputer
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A first-hand account of using MareNostrum V, one of the world's top 15 supercomputers, for generating synthetic ML training data via CFD simulations. Covers the machine's architecture including its InfiniBand fat-tree topology, 6,408 CPU nodes and 1,120 H100 GPU nodes, and newly integrated quantum hardware. Explains the operational realities of HPC: airgapped compute nodes with no internet access, SLURM workload manager job submission with #SBATCH directives, wall-time limits, CPU-hour quotas, and log-based debugging. Includes a real SLURM job script for an OpenFOAM CFD sweep and a bash orchestrator that chains 50 jobs using SLURM dependencies. Also discusses Amdahl's Law and why throwing more cores at a problem has diminishing returns. Access is free for European researchers through RES or EuroHPC.
Table of contents
The Architecture: Why You Should Care About the WiringAirgaps, Quotas, and the Reality of HPCUnderstanding SLURM Workload ManagerA Practical Example: Orchestrating an OpenFOAM SweepParallelism Limits: Amdahl’s LawThe Access to the PromptReferencesSort: