High Performance Computing Modernization Program
High Performance Computing Modernization Program
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High Performance Computing Modernization Program

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High Performance Computing Modernization Program

The United States Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) was initiated in 1992 in response to Congressional direction to modernize the Department of Defense (DoD) laboratories’ high performance computing capabilities. The HPCMP provides supercomputers, a national research network, high-end software tools, a secure environment, and computational science experts that together enable the Defense laboratories and test centers to conduct research, development, test and technology evaluation activities.

The program was administered by the Office of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (now called the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering) through FY2011, at which point it was transferred to the office of the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, where it is managed by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.

The program comprises three primary elements: DoD Supercomputing Resource Centers (DSRCs), which provide large scale supercomputers and operations staff; Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN), a nationwide high speed, low latency, R&D network connecting the centers and major user communities; and a collection of efforts in software applications to develop, modernize, and maintain software to address DoD's science and engineering challenges. Dr. Kevin Newmeyer is currently the acting director of HPCMP.

The HPCMP funds and oversees the operation of five supercomputing centers, called DoD Supercomputing Resource Centers (DSRCs). The centers are operated by the Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, MS, the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, MD, the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command in Stennis Space Center, MS, the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, OH, and Maui High Performance Computing Center in Maui, HI. The Arctic Region Supercomputing Center (ARSC) in Fairbanks, AK was a sixth DSRC until funding for it was discontinued in 2011.

Each center hosts large-scale supercomputers, high-speed networks, multi-petabyte archival mass storage systems, and computational experts. The centers are managed by the HPCMP Assistant Director for Centers, who also funds program-wide activities in user support (the HPC Help Desk) and scientific visualization (the Data Analysis and Assessment Center, or DAAC).

The Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN) — a high-speed national computer network for US Department of Defense (DoD) computational research, engineering, and testing — is a significant component of the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP).

DREN is DoD's premier wide area network (WAN) for research, test and engineering missions. DREN is a high-speed, high-capacity, low-latency, low-jitter nationwide computer network in support of the DoD's High Performance Computing, Science and Technology, Test and Evaluation and Acquisition Engineering communities. DREN connects scientists and engineers with the HPCMP's geographically dispersed high performance computing (HPC) sites, including the five DoD Supercomputing Resource Centers (DSRCs). DREN is installed at more than 210 DoD sites including research laboratories, test centers, universities, and industrial locations throughout the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).

The fourth generation DREN network (DREN 4) is provided under a commercial services contract awarded to Verizon in 2021. DREN has been awarded in the past to Lumen (DREN 3), Verizon (DREN 2), and AT&T (DREN 1). DREN service providers typically build DREN as a virtual private network overlay on their commercial network infrastructure. Capabilities provided by DREN 4 include digital data transfer speeds ranging from 1 Gbit/s through 100 Gbit/s. DREN 4 is an IPv6 network, with support for legacy IPv4. The HPCMP is currently in the process of building out DREN 4 which will ultimately replace DREN 3 when fully tested in 2022. The two networks will run in parallel for about one year while the 210 sites are transitioned from DREN 3 to DREN 4.

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