Australian supercomputer 'Taingiwilta' comes online this year with [REDACTED] inside
(2024/02/21)
- Reference: 1708493410
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/02/21/taingiwilta_australia_defence_supercomputer/
- Source link:
Australia's Defence Science Technology Group will bring a supercomputer online in the second half of 2024, but when The Register asked for information on its specs the only response we received was "Next question."
We were warned that such a response was in the offing by Kristina Johnson, director of supercomputing strategic engagement for the group, who opened her talk at Supercomputing Asia 2024 in Sydney yesterday by remarking that her slides had been vetted and marked "Official" – Australia's equivalent of an unclassified document.
But the talk described a classified supercomputer, thus she was unable to address certain questions about Taingiwilta * – Australia's new toy.
[1]
Johnson was therefore unable to address our questions about Taingiwilta's processors, GPUs, core count, or any other technical matters.
[2]
[3]
She did allow that the machine's main task for the foreseeable future will be computational fluid dynamics, and revealed it will run software written as part of the US Department of Defense's Computational Research and Engineering Acquisition Tools and Environments (CREATE) [4]program .
She also spoke of the very complex audit controls needed to run the machine, to ensure that workloads of different sensitivities can coexist in a multi-tenant environment without the wrong data or code ending up in the wrong hands (or eyeballs). Taingiwilta can support unclassified or secret workflows, and Johnson explained that avoiding the overclassification of materials is something her team works hard to achieve.
[5]Australia has no next-gen HPC investment plan and clouds can't fill the gap
[6]A visa to fill Australia's empty tech jobs is getting more expensive, but maybe better value
[7]Microsoft brings its cloudy virtual desktops on-prem to AzureStack HCI
[8]Australian Tax Office probed 150 staff over social media refund scam
Vetting open source code is another task her team needs to perform before it runs on defence-owned hardware, but Johnson warned "we can't talk about that." The Register cannot therefore rule out that [9]XKCD 2347 applies.
A question from the audience asked Johnson if researchers can publish research they develop after putting Taingiwilta to work. The director admitted that's probably not going to be possible given the secrecy surrounding the machine – which makes it hard to get staff for defence HPC.
[10]
The whole HPC sector, she added, struggles to compete with the rest of the tech industry for people – because high pay and rapid promotions aren't on offer.
Government salaries don't help: Johnson revealed that her wage is comparable to that of a full-stack web developer, yet she has longer experience and works with more complex and esoteric tech.
One thing that might make defence HPC more attractive is the chance to publish research.
[11]
Which brought a resigned look, as Johnson realized she'd gone full circle.
Johnson also suggested that early career techies in Australia may not be cut out for work in HPC anyway, based on some of her experiences in job interviews.
"They die when asked for difference between interpreted and compiled languages," she explained. ®
* Means "powerful" in the language of the Kaurna people, an indigenous nation that pre-existed the Australian city of Adelaide and surrounds.
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[4] https://www.hpc.mil/solution-areas/software/create#
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/20/australia_no_hpc_science_plan/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/19/australia_tech_visa_job_visa_application/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/06/azure_virtual_desktops_azurestack_hci/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/ato_operation_protego_tax_scam/
[9] https://xkcd.com/2347/
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[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
We were warned that such a response was in the offing by Kristina Johnson, director of supercomputing strategic engagement for the group, who opened her talk at Supercomputing Asia 2024 in Sydney yesterday by remarking that her slides had been vetted and marked "Official" – Australia's equivalent of an unclassified document.
But the talk described a classified supercomputer, thus she was unable to address certain questions about Taingiwilta * – Australia's new toy.
[1]
Johnson was therefore unable to address our questions about Taingiwilta's processors, GPUs, core count, or any other technical matters.
[2]
[3]
She did allow that the machine's main task for the foreseeable future will be computational fluid dynamics, and revealed it will run software written as part of the US Department of Defense's Computational Research and Engineering Acquisition Tools and Environments (CREATE) [4]program .
She also spoke of the very complex audit controls needed to run the machine, to ensure that workloads of different sensitivities can coexist in a multi-tenant environment without the wrong data or code ending up in the wrong hands (or eyeballs). Taingiwilta can support unclassified or secret workflows, and Johnson explained that avoiding the overclassification of materials is something her team works hard to achieve.
[5]Australia has no next-gen HPC investment plan and clouds can't fill the gap
[6]A visa to fill Australia's empty tech jobs is getting more expensive, but maybe better value
[7]Microsoft brings its cloudy virtual desktops on-prem to AzureStack HCI
[8]Australian Tax Office probed 150 staff over social media refund scam
Vetting open source code is another task her team needs to perform before it runs on defence-owned hardware, but Johnson warned "we can't talk about that." The Register cannot therefore rule out that [9]XKCD 2347 applies.
A question from the audience asked Johnson if researchers can publish research they develop after putting Taingiwilta to work. The director admitted that's probably not going to be possible given the secrecy surrounding the machine – which makes it hard to get staff for defence HPC.
[10]
The whole HPC sector, she added, struggles to compete with the rest of the tech industry for people – because high pay and rapid promotions aren't on offer.
Government salaries don't help: Johnson revealed that her wage is comparable to that of a full-stack web developer, yet she has longer experience and works with more complex and esoteric tech.
One thing that might make defence HPC more attractive is the chance to publish research.
[11]
Which brought a resigned look, as Johnson realized she'd gone full circle.
Johnson also suggested that early career techies in Australia may not be cut out for work in HPC anyway, based on some of her experiences in job interviews.
"They die when asked for difference between interpreted and compiled languages," she explained. ®
* Means "powerful" in the language of the Kaurna people, an indigenous nation that pre-existed the Australian city of Adelaide and surrounds.
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/hpc&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZdXX2y7vvyePyvsHIMXyFwAAAcU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[4] https://www.hpc.mil/solution-areas/software/create#
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/20/australia_no_hpc_science_plan/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/19/australia_tech_visa_job_visa_application/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/06/azure_virtual_desktops_azurestack_hci/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/ato_operation_protego_tax_scam/
[9] https://xkcd.com/2347/
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[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: REDACTED
Inventor of the Marmite Laser
INTEL VEGEMITE INSIDE
Re: very complex audit controls
ldo
This is a job for SELinux.
So, publishing is more attractive, but you can't
Pascal Monett
This from a woman who declares she's not paid enough for her job.
Seems to me that, if she can't keep her story straight in a public presentation she prepared, she's paid exactly what she deserves.
Re: So, publishing is more attractive, but you can't
Doctor Syntax
It sounds as if she took the job and at the end of the first week they broke it to her that if she leaves she-ll be charged under the equivalent of the Official Secrets Act. Retirement might be a problem.
A Non e-mouse
I'm here to announce something. It's big, impressive, important and the people working on it should be proud of their achievements - which they can't mention to anyone.
Thank you for attending. Goodbye.
What can be inferred?
Anonymous Coward
I'm sure the power requirements are out there somewhere. I'd expect the air conditioners to be visible in google earth too. Then there's the size of the building and I'm sure a lot more parameters I've not thought of. You can bet the boffins in all potential enemy states have already analyzed all of the available information though.
Re: What can be inferred?
Magani
"Then there's the size of the building..."
The rumour is that it'll be installed inside Bugs Bunny outside the Russell Offices with the ears used for radiant cooling.
(Canberra denizens will get the reference.)
REDACTED
REDACTED REDACTED VEGEMITE REDACTED