High-performance computing (HPC) environments are at the forefront of innovation, fueling advancements in areas like drug discovery, electronic design automation, digital movie rendering, and deep learning. As these applications become increasingly critical, the need for robust security has driven the shift from physical to virtual HPC environments.
Traditional bare-metal HPC systems fall short when it comes to dynamic resource sharing and isolation, making them unsuitable for secure multi-tenancy. Aging infrastructures heighten security risks, while virtualization offers significant advantages, particularly in terms of networking security. Virtualized HPC environments enable IT departments to maximize hardware utilization and ensure complete separation between research projects, safeguarding files and data.
Despite the array of security policies available through public clouds, challenges persist, especially in sensitive fields like clinical genomic sequencing or chip design, where regulatory compliance and top-notch security are paramount. To meet these demands, modern HPC environments require a software-defined networking solution that enhances security and simplifies operations.
In this paper, we explore the capabilities of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and its core component, NSX-T Data Center, for managing HPC workloads. We delve into a multi-tenant networking architecture and assess the performance of HPC applications using various NSX-T features. These include micro-segmentation with the distributed firewall (DFW), encapsulation with GENEVE overlay, and the NSX enhanced data path (ENS)/network stack. We also provide a set of best practices to optimize your HPC environment.
