With engineering teams increasingly working remotely, collaboration and efficiency-savings when post-processing data are more important than ever. To reflect these changes, our EPIC product just got even better with the introduction of EPIC Desktops.
What are EPIC Desktops?
They are cloud-based Linux desktop instances integrated with EPIC, our on-demand high performance computing service.
Tens of gigabytes per simulation are not uncommon for EPIC users. Therefore when post-processing, EPIC Desktop offers high bandwidth access to data without the need to download it. Users do not need to worry about ensuring they have enough computer power locally to run the post-processing and can benefit from a range of hardware configurations.
Accessed directly from a browser, EPIC Desktops utilise the DCV software from AWS, which provides hardware-accelerated remote access and is designed to work well for HPC applications. The combination of easy access via DCV and the integration with EPIC makes using the Desktops a very efficient way to access data for post-processing.
More than post-processing
While post-processing was the original usage of EPIC desktops, it can achieve so much more. Many of the applications in EPIC are now available to the Desktop nodes and can be used for pre-processing, meshing or even running simulations in the desktop environment. Training and demonstrations are also an option as they can be pre-configured as temporary environments. Users can utilise persistent configuration files to automatically configure the nodes to meet their specific requirements.
Improving collaboration
Collaborative viewing of the desktop is a huge benefit enabling engineers to analyse simulation results and explore complex datasets together in real-time. Any issues with the simulation can be corrected more quickly as well as data being extracted faster.
EPIC Desktops can be shared between team members who can even log onto the same desktop simultaneously allowing colleagues in remote locations to work together.
Combining this with the other collaborative features of EPIC teams (sharing data and simulation runs) can greatly improve the simulation process workflow. For example, one engineer may upload a CAD geometry for CFD analysis, while another starts a Desktop to create the CFD mesh which is then submitted to a Supercomputer as an EPIC batch job for processing. They can both examine the results on a shared Desktop before producing the CFD analysis required.
The data is managed by EPIC at every stage of the workflow offering engineers the opportunity to access both the Desktop and the Supercomputer using just a browser.
Watch this space…
As EPIC is cloud-based, we can continue to track the latest hardware developments, so follow our blog and sign up for updates to keep informed. EPIC Desktops are being enhanced as part of the Innovate UK project Aerospace Cloud Services to meet a range of Aerospace simulation requirements.
