Scientific Data Management (SDM) refers to storage and retrieval of
scientific data from various storage sources such as main memory, disk
and tape. SDM covers integration of data formats; data description,
organization and metadata management; efficient indexing and querying; and
file transfer as well as remote access and distributed data management
across networks.
Quick Link:
NERSC Tools for Scientific Data Management
Data analysis techniques include simple post-processing
(e.g., aggregating data) of experimental data
or simulation output, as well as the use of mathematical
methods (e.g., filtering data) and statistical tests.
Data mining usually refers to the application of more advanced mathematical
techniques such as classification, clustering, pattern recognition,
etc.
Quick Links:
NERSC
Tools for Data Analysis and Data Mining | Case Studies
Visualization of data is an invaluable tool for getting a feel for how
simulation output may vary in time or with changes in parameter
values, or for the locations of interesting regions in large data sets.
The term visualization often is used to describe the rendering of
3D isosurfaces and volumes, whereas the term graphics usually is
applied to plots such as scatter plots and histograms.
Several visualization tools supported by NERSC also provide interactive
manipulation of the display of data in order to facilitate data exploration.
Quick Links:
NERSC
Visualization Applications and Graphics Libraries | Case Studies
Workflow management refers to the process of connecting various
software tools based on specific input and output parameters. The goal
of workflow management is to automatize specific sets of tasks that
are repeated many times and thus simplify execution and avoid
typical human errors that often occur when repetitive tasks are performed.
Highly interactive data exploration is a key component of scientific
analytics, often combining multiple analytics technologies, such as
data mining and visualization, to find important features within data
or to discover the essential results from a simulation or experiment.
A relatively new term, discourse, refers not only to the
integration of analytics technologies, but also to the goal - knowledge
discovery - and to the interactive nature of the process of reaching that goal.
DaVinci is an SGI Altix 350
server with 32 64-bit Intel Itanium-2 processors running at 1.4 GHz.
DaVinci's main purpose, for which it is well suited - due to its SMP
architecture, 192 GB of shared memory, and 24 TB of disk space -
is to provide analytics capabilities to the NERSC user community,
|