HPCCloud: A Cloud/Web-Based Simulation Environment

Advanced modeling and simulation has enabled the design of a variety of innovative products and the analysis of numerous complex phenomenon. However, significant barriers exist to widespread adoption of these tools. In particular, advanced modeling and simulation: (1) is considered complex to use; (2) needs in-house expertise; and (3) requires high capital costs. In this paper, we describe the development of an end-to-end, advanced modeling and simulation cloud platform that encapsulates best practices for scientific computing in the cloud, and demonstrate using Hydra-TH as a prototypical application. As an alternative to traditional advanced modeling and simulation workflows, our Web-based approach simplifies the processes, decreases the need for in-house computational science and engineering experts, and lowers the capital investments. In addition to providing significantly improved, intuitive software, the environment offers reproducible workflows where the full lifecycle of data from input to final analyzed results can be saved, shared, and even published.