LUNARC offers resources for computation, visualisation, and storage for research within all aspects of computational science. As such the centre can be of great use to researchers conducting experiments at large-scale research facilities such as MAX IV. Director Jonas Lindemann highlights what LUNARC can offer, and his vision for the centre’s future developments.

A man, Jonas Lindemann. Photo. — Jonas Lindemann is Director of LUNARC.

LUNARC provides a Linux-based high-performance computing (HPC) environment, which can be reached either via terminal access or through a remote desktop environment. Examples of capabilities include running parallel jobs over multiple servers and thousands of cores. LUNARC can also provide large memory space for analysis of large data sets and enable visualisation of large data sets that can't be stored on a local computer.

Long-time collaboration with MAX IV

Since 2014, LUNARC has an ongoing collaboration with MAX IV.

– Not all data generated at MAX IV requires computational resources, but for the projects that do, we can help. Currently, MAX IV provides a limited amount of calculations, so it works well to move on to us when your experiment is finished. Especially since the MAX IV storage system is linked with ours, says Jonas Lindemann, LUNARC Director.

Many of the software packages currently in use at MAX IV are also installed in LUNARC’ environment. This is another beneficial aspect for researchers needing support to analyse their data.

– As part of LUNARC’s mission, we offer training and support in how to use different systems. That means that we can help people who want to become better at using the software used at MAX IV.

Currently, the most active LUNARC users come from the Department of Chemistry at Lund University. They use the software to calculate different molecular simulations. Medical calculations are also common, for example gene sequencing. A growing user group are archeologists, who see opportunities in connection to 3D reconstructions of images.

In the future, Jonas Lindemann can see the collaboration with MAX IV develop further – as more and more researchers turn to large-scale research facilities to solve their research problems.

LUNARC-HPC-on-demand lowers the threshold for new users

To lower the threshold for new LUNARC users, the team at LUNARC have put a lot of effort into developing the remote desktop environment, LUNARC-HPC-on-demand. It offers users the possibility of accessing and working on their project from their home laptop without the need to download any data from the LUNARC resources.

This feature is also what Jonas Lindemann is most proud over to have developed in his career at LUNARC to date.

– Ever since I came to LUNARC in 2014, I have thought about how get beyond the computer terminal, which requires you to know all the commands to run the software. We have actively worked to make it easier for the user, and LUNARC-on-demand is the end result.

Aim is to make LUNARC even more user friendly

Seeing new users benefit from LUNARC’s resources is a big inspiration for Jonas Lindemann in his day-to-day work. Another driver is how the research data generated at LUNARC can contribute towards solving important societal challenges, for example calculations related to renewable energy, such as wind power.

His vision for the future is that LUNARC should become even more user friendly, so that more disciplines can access the resources.

– We want LUNARC to offer a flexible user environment. It should be as easy as possible to make calculations, as well as do data analysis and visualisations. Booking systems and sending jobs interactively should also be seamless.

LUNARC is a free service for anyone working at Lund University. However, Lund University researchers can invite outside scientists to join them in LUNARC projects. The centre is financed by Lund University. It will also be member of the national infrastructure NAISS, which will take over after SNIC in 2023. LUNARC offers regular courses and trainings.

– Anyone interested in finding out more about what we do, and what we offer are welcome to contact us, says Jonas Lindemann.

About LUNARC

LUNARC is the centre for scientific and technical computing at Lund University.

The centre provides resources for computation, visualisation, and storage for research at Lund University within all aspects of computational science.