For hardware vendors and system integrators, the process of configuring high-performance computing (HPC) clusters can be time consuming, labor intensive, and costly. Even with small clusters, manually installing the base operating system plus the collection of additional software components to each node at the factory using traditional distribution methods can take days. To produce reliable clusters in high volume, vendors need to create the most efficient, repeatable processes possible.

By choosing to build certified Intel® Cluster Ready systems with Clustercorp Rocks+* software deployed through the Rocks+ Cluster Builder solution, you can accelerate system configuration, help ensure reliable results, and establish a highly efficient, repeatable process for producing HPC systems in high volume.

Consistent, streamlined HPC configurationIncrease the reliability and efficiency of building HPC clusters by creating certified Intel® Cluster Ready systems with Clustercorp Rocks+* and Rocks+ Cluster Builder

Product BriefIntel® Cluster Ready

Clustercorp Rocks+*

High-Performance Computing

Helping to ensure interoperability with Intel® Cluster ReadyThe Intel Cluster Ready program is helping to promote broad adoption

of HPC by simplifying customer selection, deployment, and operation of

HPC clusters. Organizations of all sizes can reduce the complexity and

risk of buying an HPC cluster by choosing a certified Intel Cluster Ready

system and registered Intel Cluster Ready applications.

As a hardware vendor or system integrator, you can create a certi-

fied Intel Cluster Ready system first by using the Intel Cluster Ready

Specification to guide your cluster design. During the production

process, install the software services that applications need for suc-

cessful operation. Then run Intel® Cluster Checker software to test

the system so you can confirm that it matches the specification and

will operate as expected upon customer delivery and installation.

To help ensure dependable operation of the cluster, customers choose

registered Intel Cluster Ready applications, which have been validated

to load easily and run correctly on certified Intel Cluster Ready clusters.

After the cluster is installed, either your technician or a member of

your customer’s technical team can use Intel Cluster Checker—which is

provided free with the cluster—to run periodic “wellness checks.” Cluster

Checker can identify and diagnose problems with system operation

quickly, helping to ensure that hardware and software components

continue to work in harmony over the cluster’s lifetime.

Streamlining cluster configuration with Clustercorp Rocks+ and Rocks+ Cluster BuilderClustercorp Rocks+ includes the middleware that holds the certified

Intel Cluster Ready hardware, registered Intel Cluster Ready software,

and Linux* distribution together across the cluster. Rocks+ helps

to make sure that all the required Intel Cluster Ready software

components are installed and that all software components running

on the system work together seamlessly.

As a hardware vendor or system integrator, you can deploy Clustercorp

Rocks+ through the Cluster Builder solution to set up an automated

process that will reduce the time to configure systems and eliminate

the potential for errors. By deploying Rocks+ with Cluster Builder, you

can establish a reliable, repeatable, and efficient process for producing

certified Intel Cluster Ready systems.

Rocks+ Cluster Builder helps Cray cut cluster configuration time by daysAccording to the Cray product development team, Clustercorp Rocks+*

and the Intel® Cluster Ready program have played important roles in the

successful launch of the Cray CX1* deskside personal supercomputer. “We

developed the Cray CX1 to bring HPC to more people by simplifying the

deployment and operation of an HPC cluster,” says Greg Clifford, product

manager for the Cray CX1. “Clustercorp Rocks+ and the Intel Cluster

Ready program have helped us achieve those goals by helping to ensure

that all the hardware and software components work together, from the

moment the cluster is powered on through the life of the system.”

By using the Rocks+ Cluster Builder solution to configure CX1 systems

before shipping them out, Cray is accelerating that process and helping

to ensure reliable, consistent software deployment for this high-volume

product. The Cray team automates deployment using Cluster Builder

and then certifies the cluster as Intel Cluster Ready with Intel® Cluster

Checker. “If we had to manually configure a Cray CX1 from bare metal,

it could easily take two or three days,” says John Benninghoff, sales

engineer at Cray. “By deploying Clustercorp Rocks+ with the Cluster

Builder solution, the process takes about two hours. We can spend less

time and fewer resources on configuration, and more on innovation.”

For more information about the Cray CX1,

visit www.cray.com/products/CX1.aspx.

2

Select

Clustercorp Rocks+ simplifies the selection and acquisition of soft-

ware components needed to build a complete HPC software stack

for your customers. In the past, you—or your customers—might have

purchased a base Linux distribution, system monitoring application,

workload manager, and other components from separate vendors. By

choosing to deploy Clustercorp Rocks+Rolls (which are prepackaged

software components), you get all the software you need from a single

source, and you and your customers gain the confidence that all com-

ponents will work together right away.

Deploy

The Cluster Builder solution helps to create an automated process to

simplify and accelerate HPC configuration. It streamlines the existing

method for deploying Rocks+Rolls to clusters, offering a solution that

can be easily integrated with a manufacturing process to produce

multiple clusters consistently and rapidly.

In the past, administrators needed to use optical media to install

Rocks+ to a head node in order to begin the deployment process.

Cluster Builder eliminates the need for installation CDs or DVDs by

providing a server for deploying Rocks+Rolls. The server includes a

repository of all the Rocks+Rolls that you might need for configuring

a cluster, including the Intel® Cluster Ready Roll and Intel® Developer

Roll, as well as a workload manager and other rolls. Selecting the Intel

Cluster Ready Roll enables you to create a cluster that is compliant

with the Intel Cluster Ready specification. To configure the cluster,

you simply select the software components you want to install

on the target hardware and click “go.” Cluster Builder binds those

packages into a holistic container and automates the installation

of the head node. Using PXE-boot (a network booting protocol),

administrators can provision the compute nodes automatically.

The Cluster Builder server also includes all the system “recipes” and

configuration files you need to certify the cluster as Intel Cluster

Ready. With Cluster Builder, you no longer need additional files. As

soon as the cluster is configured, it is ready to be certified.

Manage

For your customers, Clustercorp Rocks+ provides the additional benefit

of simplified ongoing management. Cluster administrators can manage

the entire cluster from the head node. When a compute node needs

an update, the Rocks+ system software rebuilds the distribution and

reprovisions the node to a complete “known-good” state. Newly added

compute nodes are configured automatically—with a single command—

without the need for complex administrator assistance.

Clustercorp Rocks+ also helps maintain ongoing Intel Cluster Ready

certification. The Intel Cluster Ready Roll automatically establishes

a user account for customers to run Intel Cluster Checker software.

An administrator can run Intel Cluster Checker periodically to confirm

that the more than 100 hardware and software parameters are

properly set and active, helping to ensure successful cluster operation.

Customers can supply you with a run report so you can aid in quick

diagnosis of problems.

Figure 1. Clustercorp Rocks+ Cluster Builder simplifies deployment with a holistic distribution and automated installation of the head node. Network-boot compute nodes for automatic provisioning.

Rocks+ Cluster Builder Intel® Cluster Ready Cluster

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This document and the information given are for the convenience of Intel’s customer base and are provided “AS IS” WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANT-ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. Receipt or possession of this document does not grant any license to any of the intellectual property described, displayed, or contained herein. Intel products are not intended for use in medical, life-saving, life-sustaining, critical control, or safety systems, or in nuclear facility applications.

Performancetestsandratingsaremeasuredusingspecificcomputersystemsand/orcomponentsandreflecttheapproximateperformanceofIntelproductsasmeasuredbythosetests.Anydifferenceinsystemhardwareorsoftwaredesignorconfigurationmayaffectactualperformance.

Intelmaymakechangestospecifications,productdescriptionsandplansatanytime,withoutnotice.

Intel, the Intel logo, and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

Rocks+ includes software developed by the Rocks Cluster Group at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, and its contributors.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Copyright © 2009 Intel Corporation

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Creating a reliable manufacturing process for high-volume cluster productionBy creating certified Intel Cluster Ready systems with Clustercorp Rocks+ software, you can help boost customer adoption of HPC clusters

by helping ensure that software applications and hardware components will work together right out of the box. The Cluster Builder solution

enables you to accelerate the HPC configuration process and enhance product reliability by providing an automated and repeatable process for

HPC software deployment. Working together, Intel and Clustercorp give you the tools that you need to create a streamlined manufacturing

process for producing HPC clusters in high volume.

Dell adopts Rocks+ Cluster Builder to help ensure cluster consistencyBy working with Intel and Clustercorp, Dell is bringing its leadership in producing deployment-ready solutions to HPC. “HPC systems,

intrinsically, can have wide degrees of variability that increase linearly with design and technology complexity,” says Peter Lillian,

senior product manager for Dell HPC Solutions. “The Intel® Cluster Ready program helps ensure configuration consistency by

providing prescriptive tools and frameworks for complex architectures.”

At the same time, Rocks+ Cluster Builder is also helping Dell enhance its overall delivery efficiency. “Clustercorp and Intel have

worked closely with Dell to deliver much more repeatable solutions,” says Lillian. “As the integration process continues to mature

around complex solutions, the delivery mechanism must also become more refined, automated, and repeatable. With partnerships,

technologies, and programs like this in place, Dell is able to lower deployment overhead, pass along those benefits to customers, and

deliver a wide array of production-ready solutions to a much broader audience.”

For more information about Dell HPC Solutions, visit content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/hpcc.aspx.

For more information about the Intel Cluster Ready program, visit www.intel.com/go/cluster.

For more information about the ways Clustercorp Rocks+ and Cluster Builder can benefit hardware vendors and system integrators, visit www.clustercorp.com.