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Gonzales, CapacityCapability Cluster
Gonzales is a recently upgraded 288 dual-processor high performance cluster system deployed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), one of the top research centers in the world.
Each server is configured with dual AMD Opteron 250 processors with 2.4 GHz, 8 GB of main memory (shared by the two processors) and 120 GigaBytes of local temporary storage in each cluster node. Two separate management nodes provide a login service to the compute nodes. The compute nodes themselves run SuSE Linux 9.2 (64-bit) operating system. The system as a whole run the Quadrics Resource Management System and provides a robust operational environment for production codes. A File Server from DALCO with the latest Lustre/QsNet configuration will be installed in the near future. The system incorporates the Quadrics QsNetII fast interconnect together with a number of unique features based around SuSE Linux and the Quadrics Resource Management System. DALCO provided a number of key design features to maintain the operational reliability of the system; these included special memory modules, the DALCO Cluster Management Suite and the tight integration of Quadrics RMS with Platform LSF HPC. | |  |
System Configuration
 | | The figure shows how Quadrics federated the initial 160 servers in a fat tree topology: three Quadrics node level switches, two with 64 links down, the third one with 32 links down to the processing nodes, are connected with 32 'uplinks' connecting them to the higher level of the switch network, the top level switch, which is packaged in the same standard switch chassis."Federated switching" is a packaging solution, which enables very large networks to be implemented with two stages of switch chassis. Although the switch is now physically distributed between multiple chassis, this is partitioning is not visible to applications, as the basic switch network topology is unchanged. | | Click on image to see bigger picture | | |
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ETH-Zurich
ETH-Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich is a science and technology university with an outstanding research record. Excellent research conditions, state-of-the-art infrastructure and an attractive urban environment add up to the ideal setting for creative personalities. 18,000 people from Switzerland and abroad are currently studying, working or conducting research at ETH Zurich. ETH is earned its excellent national and international reputation through major achievements in research as well as through first-rate teaching and services.
Jürgen Winkelmann, Head of System Services at ETH Zurich said "An essential aspect for choosing Quadrics QsNet as the high-speed interconnect for this system was reliability, performance and robustness for an production environment. Quadrics technology combines best performance in latency and bandwidth, a robust MPI production software environment and scheduling software for managing a large user base. As system integrator DALCO was chosen because they offered the best performance within the framework of our budget. "
Further information:
Gonzales cluster FAQ(pdf) - ETHZ
Gonzales case study(pdf) - Quadrics
ETHZ website
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