High performance computing and cloud computing have traditionally been seen as separate solutions to separate problems, dealing with issues of performance and flexibility respectively. In a diverse research environment however, both sets of compute requirements can occur. In addition to the administrative benefits in combining both requirements into a single unified system, opportunities are provided for incremental expansion.

The deployment of the Spartan cloud-HPC hybrid system at the University of Melbourne last year is an example of such a design. Despite its small size, it has attracted international attention due to its design features. This presentation, in addition to providing a grounding on why one would wish to build an HPC-cloud hybrid system and the results of the deployment, provides a complete technical overview of the design from the ground up, as well as problems encountered and planned future developments.

The Why and How of HPC-Cloud Hybrids with OpenStack. Presentation to OpenStack Australia Day, June 1, 2017 and Telstra June 5, 2017