Running Web Applications on HPC using containers

NeSI supports the use of Singularity containers, which can be used to package up entire scientific workflows and software, on its High Performance Computers (HPCs). For researchers wanting to run web applications on the HPC in a scalable manner, we have come up with a process for bundling the web app into a Singularity container, running it via Slurm and exposing it to the end user’s web browser via SSH tunnel.

We will share our experiences and talk about some challenges we faced as well as about future opportunities in this space.

Chris Scott is a Research Software Engineer working for NeSI with a background in scientific computing and HPC.

Marko Laban is a Software Engineer working for NeSI