mathematics

NEOS Server

NEOS Server is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand NEOS Server rather than just read about it. In short: The NEOS Server is an Internet-based client-server application that provides free access to a library of optimization solvers. Its library of solvers includes more than 60 commercial, free and open source solvers, which can be applied to mathematical optimization problems of more than 12 different types, including linear programming, integer programming and nonlinear optimization.

Key takeaways

NEOS Server belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect NEOS Server to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of NEOS Server from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The NEOS Server is an Internet-based client-server application that provides free access to a library of optimization solvers. Its library of solvers includes more than 60 commercial, free and open source solvers, which can be applied to mathematical optimization problems of more than 12 different types, including linear programming, integer programming and nonlinear optimization. The server is managed by the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most of the solvers are hosted by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where jobs run on a cluster of high-performance machines managed by the HTCondor software. A smaller number of solvers are hosted by partner organizations: Arizona State University, the University of Klagenfurt in Austria, and the University of Minho in Portugal. The server was developed in 1996 by the Optimization Technology Center of Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University.

Structure The NEOS (Network-Enabled Optimization System) project was launched in at Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University to develop a method to share optimization software resources over the Internet. The server went live in 1996, one of the first examples of software as a service. The NEOS Server is an Internet-based client-server application that provides access to a library of optimization solvers. The server accepts optimization models described in modeling languages, programming languages, and problem-specific formats. Most of the linear programming, integer programming and nonlinear programming solvers accept input from AMPL and/or GAMS. Jobs can be submitted via a web page, email, XML RPC, Kestrel or indirectly via third party submission tools SolverStudio for Excel, OpenSolver, Pyomo, JuMP (through the Julia package NEOS) and the R package rneos. NEOS uses the HTCondor software to manage the workload on a dedicated cluster of computers.

References

External links NEOS Server: official site of the NEOS Server NEOS Guide: official site of the NEOS Guide

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with NEOS Server

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what NEOS Server claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to NEOS Server before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about NEOS Server ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of NEOS Server

In research: NEOS Server appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses NEOS Server in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: NEOS Server is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mathematical optimization software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for NEOS Server outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study NEOS Server in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what NEOS Server means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain NEOS Server out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is NEOS Server in simple terms?

Why does NEOS Server matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study NEOS Server?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on NEOS Server.