Webinar: Introduction to Neocortex
Presented on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 2:00 – 3:00 pm (ET), by Paola A. Buitrago and Nicholas A. Nystrom.
This webinar presents an overview of Neocortex, an upcoming NSF funded AI supercomputer at PSC, to be deployed in late 2020. Neocortex, which captures groundbreaking new hardware technologies, is designed to accelerate AI research in pursuit of science, discovery, and societal good.
The topics covered included:
- Overview of Neocortex, including planned hardware configuration and specs
- Criteria for ideal users and applications
- How to get early access to Neocortex through the Early User Program
For more information about Neocortex, explore the Neocortex project page. For questions about this webinar, please email neocortex@psc.edu.
Q&A
How much does it cost to access the system? And is there help to get started?
There is no cost to use Neocortex and other PSC systems for open (publishable) research. PSC experts will be available to help with getting started, both in the Early User Period and beyond.
Will this system be available to the general research community and if so how do we gain access? Can we write custom applications for the system? Any concerns with
Neocortex will be available to the general research community. Applications must be initiated by faculty, postdocs, staff, or graduate students with NSF fellowships at U.S.-based institutions. Additional users, including international collaborators, can be added to those allocations.
In late July 2020, we will open the application process for the Early User Program. The Early User Program is for people who would like to apply Neocortex as soon as possible to applicable training tasks. The Early User Program is also an opportunity to help PSC improve the user environment, especially through the first 30 days.
For the Early User Program, the application will require a brief summary of your research and the outcomes you’d expect for the initial 30-day period.
Following the Early User Program, Neocortex will enter Early Operations. We expect that Early Users will continue using Neocortex. There will also be a separate application for people who would like to begin using Neocortex only after the Early User Period. In late July, PSC will also share information on applying for Early Operations.
Writing custom applications using a low-level API will be supported on Neocortex. We expect that to be ready somewhat later, as we are initially focusing on existing, widely used frameworks.
Any concerns with medical/clinical data being uploaded to Neocortex?
The answer to this question has several parts:
- Allocations on PSC’s filesystems by default restrict access to only the groups and users owning those allocations. Everyone’s data is treated as confidential.
- Medical data being used for research is normally deidentified to contain no personally identifiable information (PII), in which case computing on Neocortex can be performed with no special arrangements.
- If it becomes necessary to consider data containing PII, then the Neocortex projects’ Compliance Manager can help to explore access that will be consistent institutional review board (IRB) determinations and regulatory requirements.
When will we see quantum computers in the mainstream?
Quantum computing is not in the scope of the Neocortex project. However, there are substantial activities and resources available elsewhere to follow the field of quantum computing including (in the U.S.) at DARPA, NSF, and DOE.
Will there be any student access (free) for courses? Like Stampede gives semester wise access to their clusters upon applying.
“Education” allocations on Neocortex will be available in future stages of the project. Please watch the Neocortex website for updates on when we will begin accepting those applications.
Is there an option to 'test drive' to benchmark against current processes?
Neocortex is the first system of its kind in the world, and our team is very interested in measuring its performance on a variety of networks. We would welcome the opportunity to work with you to optimize your deep learning workflows and obtain representative benchmarks through our Early User Program. More details to be published soon.
When and will this system be available on XSEDE resources?
Neocortex will be available to the community through an open peer-reviewed national allocation process and be supported by community and other support services, such as those currently available through XSEDE. Please watch the Neocortex website for related updates.