Enhanced computational infrastructure for data analysis at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility

Recently a number of enhancements to the computer hardware infrastructure have been implemented at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. Utilizing these improvements to the hardware infrastructure, software enhancements are focusing on streamlined analysis, automation, and graphical user interface (GUI) systems to enlarge the user base. The adoption of the load balancing software package LSF Suite by Platform Computing has dramatically increased the availability of CPU cycles and the efficiency of their use. Streamlined analysis has been aided by the adoption of the MDSplus system to provide a unified interface to analyzed DIII-D data. The majority of MDSplus data is made available in between pulses giving the researcher critical information before setting up the next pulse. Work on data viewing and analysis tools focuses on efficient GUI design with object-oriented programming (OOP) for maximum code flexibility. Work to enhance the computational infrastructure at DIII-D hats included a significant effort to aid the remote collaborator since the DIII-D National Team consists of scientists from nine national laboratories, 19 foreign laboratories, 16 universities, and five industrial partnerships. As a result of this work, DIII-D data is available on a 24 x 7 basis from a set of viewing and analysis tools that can be run on either the collaborators' or DIII-D's computer systems. Additionally, a web based data and code documentation system has been created to aid the novice and expert user alike. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.