New and Cool

1
New and Cool

• The Cactus Team
• Albert Einstein Institute
• cactus_at_cactuscode.org

2
Active development

• Topics
• Remote Visualization
• Remote Steering
• Remote Offline Visualization
• Simulation Portal
• Collaboratory Tools
• Groups
• German DFN-Verein Gigabit project for exploiting
  high speed networks (TIKSL)
• USA NSF KDI project to develop collaboratory
  tools for astrophysics around Cactus (ASC)
• And others ...

3
Remote Visualization
OpenDX
Amira
Contour plots (download)
LCA Vision
IsoSurfaces and Geodesics
Grid FunctionsStreaming HDF5
Amira
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Remote Visualization

• Streaming data from Cactus simulation to viz
  client
• Clients OpenDX, Amira, LCA Vision
• Protocols
• Proprietary
• Isosurfaces, geodesics
• HTTP
• Parameters, xgraph data, JPegs
• Streaming HDF5
• HDF5 provides downsampling and hyperslabbing
• all above data, and all possible HDF5 data (e.g.
  2D/3D)
• two different technologies
• Streaming Virtual File Driver (I/O rerouted over
  network stream)
• XML-wrapper (HDF5 calls wrapped and translated
  into XML)

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Remote Visualization (2)

• Clients
• Proprietary
• Amira
• HTTP
• Any browser ( xgraph helper application)
• HDF5
• Any HDF5 aware application
• h5dump
• Amira
• OpenDX
• LCA Vision (soon)
• XML
• Any XML aware application
• Perl/Tk GUI
• Future browsers (need XSL-Stylesheets)

6
Remote Visualizion - Issues

• Parallel streaming
• Cactus can do this, but readers not yet available
  on the client side
• Handling of port numbers
• clients currently have no method for finding the
  port number that Cactus is using for streaming
• development of external meta-data server needed
  (ASC/TIKSL)
• Generic protocols
• Data server
• Cactus should pass data to a separate server that
  will handle multiple clients without interfering
  with simulation
• TIKSL provides middleware (streaming HDF5) to
  implement this
• Output parameters for each client

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Remote Steering
Any Viz Client
Remote Viz data
HTTP
XML
HDF5
Amira
Remote Viz data
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Remote Steering

• Stream parameters from Cactus simulation to
  remote client, which changes parameters (GUI,
  command line, viz tool), and streams them back to
  Cactus where they change the state of the
  simulation.
• Cactus has a special STEERABLE tag for
  parameters, indicating it makes sense to change
  them during a simulation, and there is support
  for them to be changed.
• Example IO parameters, frequency, fields
• Current protocols
• XML (HDF5) to standalone GUI
• HDF5 to viz tools (Amira)
• HTTP to Web browser (HTML forms)

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Remote Steering - Issues

• Same kinds of problems as remote visualization
• generic protocols
• handling of port numbers
• broadcasting of active Cactus simulations
• Security
• Logins
• Who can change parameters?
• Lots of issues still to resolve ...

10
Remote Offline Visualization
Viz in Berlin
VisualizationClient
Downsampling, hyperslabs
Only what is needed
Remote Data Server
4TB at NCSA
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Remote Offline Visualization

• Accessing remote data for local visualization
• Should allow downsampling, hyperslabbing, etc.
• Access via DPSS is working (TIKSL)
• Waiting for DataGrid support for HTTP and FTP to
  remove dependency on the DPSS file systems.

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Grand Picture
Viz of data from previous simulations in SF café
Remote steering and monitoring from airport
Remote Viz in St Louis
Remote Viz and steering from Berlin
DataGrid/DPSS Downsampling
IsoSurfaces
http
HDF5
T3E Garching
Origin NCSA
Globus
Simulations launched from Cactus Portal
Grid enabled Cactus runs on distributed machines
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More Information

• Web pages
• Cactus
• http//www.CactusCode.org
• DFN
• http//www.zib.de/Visual/projects/TIKSL
• ASC
• http//wugrav.wustl.edu/ASC/mainframe.html
• Contact
• cactus_at_cactuscode.org