CCPR WorkshopIntroduction to the Cluster

March 2, 2005

Outline

• Overview– What is a “cluster”?– What tools are available on CCPR’s cluster? – How will the cluster benefit your research?

• Cluster Tutorial– Connecting from Windows– Submitting jobs– Managing jobs – Job output– Website

What is a cluster?

• The first “cluster” was motivated by the need for cheap, high-performance computing

• Off-the-shelf computers/processors were successfully connected to create a “super-computer”

• Great success; idea spread rapidly

• Cost-effective and scalable

What is a cluster?

• Think of a cluster as having two parts:– Hardware: a collection of computers – Cluster management system: software for

coordinating hardware with a collection of computational tasks (batch jobs)

CCPR’s Cluster: Hardware

Front-end • Job submission • Cluster management• Administrative tools• lexis.ccpr.ucla.edu or

“lexis” for short

Back-end• All processing and

“heavy-lifting”• 4 “worker” nodes• Specs

• 2 x AMD Opteron Model 248, 64bit

• 8 gigs RAM on node 1 • 2 gigs RAM on nodes 2-4

• 8 “slots”

CCPR’s Cluster: Management System

• Jobs are submitted to the cluster via the cluster management system– An advanced batch system – Efficiently allocates resources to jobs– Remembers job requirements – Remembers node specs and availability– Schedules jobs according to requested

resources and priority – Users can easily view jobs

Software and Data on the Cluster

• Stata• SAS• Matlab• Stat/Transfer• R• Editors: emacs, pico, vi,

and more• Various compilers (C,

Fortran)• Scripting languages• Suggestions?

• Ready-data archive– HRS– CPS (Unicon version)– AddHealth– IFLS– Susenas

• Lots more to come…• Suggestions?

Other features

• Personal disk space provided

• Access to additional disk space available

• Interactive use of software available

• Quick comparison to Whitney, nicco, ts1, ts2, Hoffman cluster

• Cost-effective and scalable

How does this help your research?

• Easy access to software and data

• Faster processors

• More RAM

• Easy to share data, programs, etc. with colleagues via the cluster

• More advanced users: parallel processing, compilers, etc.

Continued…

How does this help your research? (continued)

• Your pc is available for other work when you submit a job to the cluster

• Submit a job and forget about it

• As an early user, you will have all our ears for requests and questions.

• It’s EASY.

Questions/Comments

Tutorial

• Connecting from Windows

• Submitting jobs

• Managing jobs

• Job output

• Website