|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: HSF-OSG-WLCG Workshop at Jefferson Lab, HOW2019 |
| 3 | +author: Graeme Stewart |
| 4 | +layout: newsletter |
| 5 | +--- |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +The annual [HEP Software Foundation |
| 8 | +workshop](https://indico.cern.ch/event/759388/){:target="jlab_agenda"} happened |
| 9 | +in [Jefferson Laboratory](https://www.jlab.org){:target="jlab_webpage"} from the |
| 10 | +18th to 22nd of March. This year we had the opportunity to join forces again |
| 11 | +with the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) community and, in addition, the US |
| 12 | +Open Science Grid (OSG). Almost 250 scientists, from LHC, HEP and non-HEP |
| 13 | +communities joined the meeting. |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +On the first day we opened the meeting with an excellent introduction to JLab |
| 16 | +from lab director Stuart Henderson and an overview of JLab computing and |
| 17 | +software from Raffaella De Vita. That was followed by plenary talks from the LHC |
| 18 | +experiments, other HEP experiments and many non HEP communities, including the |
| 19 | +next generation US nuclear physics facility, the Electron-Ion Collider. That |
| 20 | +set the stage for the computing and software challenges we face in data |
| 21 | +intensive science for the next decade. |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +<div style="text-align:center; padding:25px; float:left"> |
| 24 | +<img src ="/images/workshops/jlab-group.jpg" alt="JLab Workshop Group Photo" /> |
| 25 | +<br>Workshop Participants. Photo © DOE Jefferson Laboratory |
| 26 | +</div> |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +The theme of working more closely with other sciences was underlined by the |
| 29 | +discussion on the *Evolution of the WLCG Collaboration* on Monday afternoon. |
| 30 | +Sharing an infrastructure for big data sciences, building on what we know and |
| 31 | +already have, received wide support, but the details of how to manage this, for |
| 32 | +all communities, need to be worked out. |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +Common sessions for HSF and WLCG on Tuesday looked at the evolution of |
| 35 | +technology, based on the impressive work done by the [HEPiX Benchmarking |
| 36 | +WG](http://w3.hepix.org/benchmarking.html){:target="hepix_bm"}. Processors, |
| 37 | +storage and networking are all changing and HEP is having to adapt to that, as |
| 38 | +well as making more and more use of HPC facilities. As HPCs equip themselves |
| 39 | +massively with compute accelerators this led very naturally to the afternoon HSF |
| 40 | +session on *Software for Accelerators*. These devices are very different from |
| 41 | +CPUs, for which we have written most of our software for up to now, and pose |
| 42 | +serious challenges for developers. Integration with CPU frameworks and finding |
| 43 | +the best way to maintain code for a heterogeneous future were among the topics |
| 44 | +where the HSF will continue to work to identify prototypes and share best |
| 45 | +practice. ALICE showed how they were using GPUs to achieve the required |
| 46 | +throughput in Run 3. LHCb, who also face the stiff test of increased throughput |
| 47 | +in Run 3, is actively doing R&D work on GPUs and presented encouraging results. |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +<div style="text-align:center; padding:25px; float:right"> |
| 50 | +<img src ="/images/workshops/jlab-plenary1.jpg" alt="JLab Workshop Group Photo" /> |
| 51 | +<br>Plenary Discussions. Photo © DOE Jefferson Laboratory |
| 52 | +</div> |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +Wednesday and Thursday saw the time of the HSF Working Groups to organise |
| 55 | +their sessions. Our three new working groups were the stars of the show and |
| 56 | +the quality of the sessions they organised were a testament to how much |
| 57 | +good work and preparation has been done since the start of the year. |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +[*Detector Simulation*](/workinggroups/detsim.html){:target="wg_sim"} looked at |
| 60 | +everything from physics improvements for the future to the speed boosts that we |
| 61 | +need and how we can get them. The GeantV vectorisation R&D presented important |
| 62 | +results and the approximate methods for fast simulation were discussed, |
| 63 | +including progress in using machine learning. |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +[*Data Analysis*](/workinggroups/dataanalysis.html){:target="wg_ana"} presented |
| 66 | +a summary of what we learned from their topical workshops, with new approaches |
| 67 | +for the future. Declarative analysis is being explored in many R&Ds now, and |
| 68 | +given the uncertainty in computing architectures for the future, this is a topic |
| 69 | +worth investigating. |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +[*Reconstruction and Software |
| 72 | +Triggers*](/workinggroups/recotrigger.html){:target="wg_reco"} looked at the |
| 73 | +increasing tendency to produce analysis quality output close to the detector, |
| 74 | +both in time and in space, so called *Real Time Analysis*. That touched again on |
| 75 | +integrating compute accelerators, such as FPGAs as a way to do complex inference |
| 76 | +within budget. |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +<div style="text-align:center; padding:25px"> |
| 79 | +<img src ="/images/workshops/jlab-RTA-1.jpg" style="padding:5px;" alt="JLab Real Time Analysis Talk ATLAS" /> |
| 80 | +<img src ="/images/workshops/jlab-RTA-2.jpg" style="padding:5px;" alt="JLab Real Time Analysis Talk CMS" /> |
| 81 | +<br>RTA Presentations. Photos © Caterina Doglioni |
| 82 | +</div> |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +Many of our other HSF working groups also organised sessions. [*Education and |
| 85 | +Training*](/workinggroups/training.html){:target="wg_train"} is still a major |
| 86 | +challenge for the community. A survey of what the training needs are for HEP |
| 87 | +provides valuable input for how we organise schools and training in the future. |
| 88 | +The LHCb StarterKit programme continues to shine as an example of bottom-up |
| 89 | +training that is an inspiration for many other experiments. |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +The [*PyHEP*](/workinggroups/pyhep.html){:target="wg_pyhep"} group organised a |
| 92 | +session that explored our links with the wider Python community, with an |
| 93 | +emphasis on toolset approaches where different tools mesh together to form the |
| 94 | +required pipeline. There was also a presentation from outside HEP, with Jonathan |
| 95 | +Helmus from Anaconda introducing the numba Python JIT and the Conda package |
| 96 | +distribution. In the latter our own community has contributed ROOT on Linux and |
| 97 | +OS X platforms, which is already very popular. |
| 98 | + |
| 99 | +The theme of packaging was touched on again in the [*Software Development |
| 100 | +Tools*](/workinggroups/softwaredevelopertools.html){:target="wg_swtools"} |
| 101 | +session. The [*HSF Packaging |
| 102 | +WG*](https://hepsoftwarefoundation.org/workinggroups/packaging.html){:target="wg_pkg"} |
| 103 | +presented solutions that support the wider science community and look like a |
| 104 | +good bet for the future. Closer to the code-face, presentations on profiling and |
| 105 | +static analysis provided developers with good advice about the best tools to |
| 106 | +use. |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +On Friday the sessions turned back to plenary mode and we heard from projects |
| 109 | +being funded to provide the investment in software and computing that we so very |
| 110 | +much need. It was therefore very appropriate to announce that the HSF Community |
| 111 | +White Paper Roadmap was finally |
| 112 | +[published](https://doi.org/10.1007/s41781-018-0018-8){:target="cwp_roadmap_csbs"} |
| 113 | +in *Computing and Software for Big Science* during the week of the workshop. |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +That led us very neatly to a closing talk from JLab's Amber Boehnlein, on |
| 116 | +her thoughts about the future of computing in the field. Amber was the main |
| 117 | +local organiser of the workshop and we were very happy to warmly thank |
| 118 | +her and the rest of the team on a job well done. The dinner we enjoyed in the |
| 119 | +local Mariners' Museum was greatly appreciated and offered a great backdrop |
| 120 | +for continued discussions. We all enjoyed the early |
| 121 | +Spring meeting at JLab and already look forward to next year's event. |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | +<div style="text-align:center; padding:25px"> |
| 124 | +<img src ="/images/workshops/jlab-dinner.jpg" alt="JLab Workshop Dinner" /> |
| 125 | +<br>Dinner in the Mariners' Museum. Photo © DOE Jefferson Laboratory |
| 126 | +</div> |
0 commit comments