Computational OPtimization Solutions cluster managed by MFCF University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Hardware Configuration

Here is a description of the hardware comprised by the cluster.

• linopt.math
  This is the Linux head node of the cluster. SGI XE270 with 2 2.4 GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5620 64-bit CPUs, 24 GB RAM, 4 internal disks in a RAID-5 configuration.
• winopt.math
  This is the Windows head node of the cluster. SGI XE270 with 2 2.4 GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5620 64-bit CPUs, 24 GB RAM, 4 internal disks in a RAID-5 configuration.
• storage array
  IS220 hardware RAID with dual controllers and dual fibre-channel paths. Twelve disks configured with RAID-5 and extra parity and hot spares. Two file systems, /home and /scratch, each 3.7 TB. The storage array is hosted by linopt.math. It exports /home, /scratch, and /opt to the Linux nodes by NFS, and to the Windows nodes by Samba. Read more about the IS220 in this product datasheet (PDF).
• cluster nodes
  There are twelve cluster nodes named n001 through n012. These are XE340 systems, each with 2 2.4 GHz quad-core Intel E5620 Xeon 64-bit CPUs and 48 GB RAM. Physically there are two nodes per chassis in a compact one-rackspace design, so the twelve cluster nodes are in six chassis using six rack spaces.
• QLogic InfiniBand 12300 switch
  This switch connects all the nodes by InfiniBand, a much higher bandwidth technology than ordinary ethernet, making it especially useful for high-performance MPI communication. This particular InfiniBand is QDR 4X which means 32 gigabits per second of data throughput. Read more about the QLogic model 12300 switch on the QLogic web site.
• HP ProCurve 2910al gigabit ethernet switch
  This switch carries all the ordinary ethernet traffic, and you can also do MPI communication over it. Note that only the head nodes linopt.math and winopt.math are visible to the public network. The cluster nodes cannot be "seen" from the public network. Read more about the HP ProCurve 2910al on the HP web site.

The Altix XE series has been rebranded after the time of our purchase. Read more about the Altix XE hardware platform on SGI's web site. Read more about our model XE270 head nodes and XE340 compute nodes in this PDF product datasheet. The current branding is Rackable Standard-Depth Servers. The equivalent to the XE270 is the C2108, and the equivalent to the XE340 is the C1104.

Some day there may be a virtual tour available here.

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