Let's Get Our Heads Out of the Clouds: A scalable and sustainable approach to HPC Training Labs for Resource Constrained Environments and anyone else stuck in the Clouds

Volume 15, Issue 1 (March 2024), pp. 64–71

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@article{jocse-15-1-13,
  author={Bryan Johnston and Lara Timm and Eugene de Beste and Mabatho Hashatsi},
  title={Let's Get Our Heads Out of the Clouds: A scalable and sustainable approach to HPC Training Labs for Resource Constrained Environments and anyone else stuck in the Clouds},
  journal={The Journal of Computational Science Education},
  year=2024,
  month=mar,
  volume=15,
  issue=1,
  pages={64--71},
  doi={https://doi.org/10.22369/issn.2153-4136/15/1/13}
}

In this paper, we present an approach to hands-on High Performance Computing (HPC) System Administrator training that is not reliant on high performance computing infrastructure. We introduce a scalable, standalone virtual 3-node OpenHPC-based training lab designed for Resource Constrained Environments (RCE’s) that runs on a participant's local computer. We describe the technical components and implementation of the virtual HPC training lab and address the principles and best practices considered throughout the design of the training material.