Author Archive

Using Perceus/Warewulf as your Cluster Management System (CMS) can speed cluster setup and deployment by automating a number of repetitive tasks.

Learn how graphics processing units are pushing the HPC envelope.

Continuing the discussion of cluster-ready filesystems with an overview of traditional parallel file systems, which allow clusters to contact multiple storage devices directly rather than communicating with storage through a gateway. All you ever wanted to know about parallel file systems, and then some.

High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters are easier, and cheaper, than ever to put together. If you have an interest in pulling together your own cluster, or maybe you just want to understand more about cluster technology, it’s necessary to grok the differences between clusters and standard systems.

In part one, I introduced the two most popular HPC networking technologies — Ethernet (GigE and 10GigE) and Infiniband. We also compared latency, bandwidth, and the N/2 performance of these technologies. While these numbers give a general feel for performance, there is no easy way to determine the actual performance of your application.

The combined challenges of multi-core CPUs in HPC combined with with a pronounced lack in recent clock speed increases have led many users on a quest for alternative commodity hardware that can be used to increase performance. Enter the modern day Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).

An often asked question by new HPC cluster users is, What kind of interconnects (networks) are available? This question is important because the network is perhaps the single most important factor in terms of cluster performance. GigE, 10 GigE, Infiniband: Which one is right for you?