Setting up a high-performance computing lab

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Pacopag

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May 24, 2011
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Hi. I may have some say in the setup of a new high-performance computing facility. It's not Skynet or anything, but we've got a decent piece of funding secured for the hardware. The proposed system so far consists of a number of pretty high-end Mac machines with 12-core Xeon cpus and lots of ram, and to use Pooch for the cluster software.

This is a bit of a loaded thread, so I'll try to break it into two main issues.

1. I think that we'd probably get more bang for our buck if we use linux on non-Mac hardware. Without starting an Us versus Them war, what should I consider when making this comparison? I'd personally be more comfortable with linux from a sys admin perspective (and I'm hoping to fill this role), so what I'm selfishly looking for is a strong case to use non-Mac hardware, but I nevertheless want the argument to be objective.

2. What other considerations are there when building a cluster for parallel computation (regarding hardware in particular)? If possible, please give specific examples (e.g. I know that the networking hardware, like switches or routers etc. are important, but please some specifics about this and related things). Anything else?

Thanks to all for any help you can offer.
 
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getochkn

getochkn

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Jul 2, 2006
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What kind of processing is this going to be used for. Would be a big difference in what is needed. Nowadays, GPU rendering is all the craze and if this would be used, then you'd want to take that into account. you're not being specific on what this would be used for, how many users, remote users, do you know linux good, like real good?
 
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boucleinfinie

boucleinfinie

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Feb 22, 2012
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Not able to help you with that much, and I can't remember if this is not allowed to be talked about, but you you could always empty a mac case and mod it to put in your bought parts, and then use it for a hackintosh. That'd be neat.
 
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marshallbradley

marshallbradley

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Sep 24, 2012
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1. Hardware provided by Mac is overpriced and has a heavy premium. That is is an objective fact. They are a business, and not one that is selling computers component-wise, i.e. the hard-ware is only half of the service they are offering (and charging for). Without wanting to get into an argument about whether the additional services they offer to their hardware is worth it, you seem fairly confident already with Linux, so that would be my suggestion. It would certainly turn out cheaper and increase your bang/buck ratio.

2. Not really my area of expertise I'm afraid. I'm better at bashing Mac (jk) :D I'd imagine you'd want a lot of switches and cables though...

M
 
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dalethepcman

dalethepcman

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Without knowing how many end points you plan on having its difficult to scale out a scenario setup for you. Unless your setting a lab at Apple HQ, I would not use mac pro desktops.

Get yourself an 80 core 512gb HP Proliant 980 server - around 80k (or 40 core 256gb server @ 45k)
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/15351-15351-3328412-241644-4222584-4231377.html?dnr=1

If you need additional storage capacity, add a small 3par kit - 40k
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/disk-storage/product-detail.html?oid=5357337

Add a cisco managed switch (24 port GboE - WS-C3750X-24T-S) and the appropriate goodies for uplink (C3KX-NM-10GT for 2x 10gb uplinks)

Find your run of the mill rack and a 240v power connection and get started.

Really this is the completely wrong place to ask. Whatever company or institution you are going to be doing this with, you should work with their IT department or talk to a couple sales reps from HP/Dell/Apple in your area and let them know your needs.
 
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Pacopag

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May 24, 2011
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Thank you all for your replies. A few of you said that it would be helpful to elaborate on the purpose of the system. It will mainly be used for scientific computing. I don't think GPU rendering is a priority. For the most part it will be pure number crunching. Probably stick some nvidia cards in case we want use cuda though.

dalethepcman: That's good stuff. Thanks for the links. It'd be great I could get some links to some other hardware to look at.
 
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