Nekkloud: A software environment for high-order finite element analysis on clusters and clouds

As the capabilities and diversity of computational platforms continue to grow, scientific software is becoming ever more complex in order to target resources effectively. In the libhpc project we are developing a suite of tools and services to simplify job description and execution on heterogeneous infrastructures. This paper presents Nekkloud, a web-based software environment, built on aspects of the libhpc framework, for running the Nektar++ high-order finite element code on both cluster and cloud platforms, while improving the accessibility of the software for end-users and improving the user experience. Nektar++ provides a suite of solvers which span a range of scientific domains, ensuring that Nekkloud has a broad range of use cases. We describe the Nekkloud environment, its use and its ability to target both local campus cluster infrastructure and cloud computing resources, enabling users to make better use of the facilities available to them.