Dhakshina Cluster Series II

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'High Performance Computing', abbreviated as 'HPC' refers to the use of computer clusters, that is, computing systems comprised of multiple processors linked together as a single system. Because of their flexibility, power, and relatively low cost (they can normally be created from off-the-shelf components), HPC systems increasingly dominate the world of supercomputing. Dhakshina Cluster Series II is a High Performance Computing System developed by FISAT Research Group under the leadership of Mr.Mahesh C using the Beowulf Architecture, with a peak speed of 180 Gflops. Dhakshina Cluster Series II is the product of our desire to upgrade Dhakshina Cluster Series I. Cluster Series II promises more efficiency and computational facilities for large-scale applications. Benchmarked at a top speed of 70 Gflops, Cluster Series II is aimed at the professionals and students interested in the research and development of parallel processing applications.

Connectivity

The cluster nodes in the Dhakshina are interconnected using the Gigabit Ethernet LAN. The data transfer takes place at the speed of around 990 Megabit per second among the servers and around 665 Mb per second among the client nodes. The Gigabit Ethernet enables the use of both the optical fibre cable and also the copper cables. As we require effective connection to the already existing copper cable network of the campus, the cluster also uses a UTP copper cables in the LAN. The cabling uses a category 6 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) patchchord IEC 332-1 four pair, ETL verified to TIA/EIA – 568-B; cables from Molex.

Hardware

Execution Nodes	Monitor Node
40 Nodes Intel Pentium 4 (3.6 Ghz), 945 G, 1.23 GB RAM 80 GB SATA 1 G ethernet	1 Node Intel Pentium 4 (2.6 GHz ) 865 G 1.23 GB RAM 80 GB PATA 100 M ethernet
HPC Firewall:	User Login
Intel Pentium 4 (2.6 GHz) 865 G 1 GB RAM 80 GB PATA 100 M ethernet	5 machines Intel core 2 Duo 2.6 Ghz 1 GB RAM 80 GB HDD 1 G ethernet 15'' TFT monitor 52x CD ROM 104 Std keyboardOptical Mouse
SGE Server	NFS + LDAP Server
1 in number Intel Xeon 2.2 Ghz Quad Core x 2 2 GB RAM 146 GB SAS Hd x2 1 G ethernet x2	1 in number Intel Xeon 2.2 Ghz Quad Core x 2 2 GB RAM 146 GB SAS Hd x2 1 G ethernet x2
Project server:	Switches
1 in number Intel Pentium 4 – 2.6x2 512 MB RAM 120 GB HDD 1 GB and 100M ethernet	2 in number 24 Port Gigabytes/sec

Servers form the heart of the cluster because they act as gateways to the outside world. The reliability and speed of the server reflect the performance of the entire cluster. The IBM X-series quad core Xeon Processor powered servers have proved to be the best in the market which really has stood the test of time for the best performance. The clients featuring the Intel Pentium 4 with HT machines work at a speed of 3.0 Ghz and have a memory of 1.23 GB. The stability and the reliability offered by these clients for long and complex calculations are among the best in the industry.

ARCHITECTURE