User Site Census: Primary Applications at HPTC Sites

InterSect360 Research
August 1, 2011
SKU: TRS6662802
License type:
This report is part of our HPC User Site Census series and provides an examination of the primary application software found at a sample of HPTC user sites. We surveyed a broad range of users about their current computer system installations, storage systems, networks, middleware, and applications software supporting these computer installations. Other reports in this series include: HPC User Site Census: Systems; HPC User Site Census: Processors; HPC User Site Census: Interconnects/Networks; HPC User Site Census: Storage and HPC User Site Census: Middleware.

Our goal in this analysis of applications is to examine the suppliers, products, and primary usage of the software packages.

Key findings of the Site Census surveys include the following:
  • 320 unique supplier packages were listed by the HPTC sites. About three-fourths appeared at only one site, indicating the diversity of application needs and the research nature of the HPC market.
  • Biological/chemical research, fluid dynamics, and structural analysis were the top three usage categories for application software for the last four survey years.
  • The leading application software packages were Gaussian, ANSYS's Fluent, and Simulia's Abaqus. All of these top packages were used at multiple sites.
  • Of the top 10 applications by number of mentions, five were biological/chemical, three were structural, one was fluid dynamics, and one was weather/environmental modeling.
  • Open Source was the leading source of programs, with 34% of mentions, overtaking commercial ISVs with the addition of the 2011 survey results. About 90% of the open source codes were reported by academic and government sites. Commercial ISVs accounted for 31% of mentions. The remaining software was developed in-house or was public software.
System vendors should work to support applications through a multi-stage process, which includes: basic programming support, development of applications support staff, porting of major codes, and development of vertical market expertise.