Hardware
Orestis
Abbildung 1: Orestis: Sun Fire X4600 M2
Abbildung 2: X4600 CPU Topology
Abbildung 3: Sun Fire X4600 Explanation
Sun Fire X4600 M2 is a family of powerful, yet compact (4 rack units) and energy-efficient
servers (www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4600/). Our machine houses 8 AMD Opteron 8356 Quad-Core
processors with 2.3 GHz and 2MB L3 cache. This gives a total of 32 cores (each with 0.5MB L2
cache). CPUs are connected to each other by HyperTransport links running at 8 GB/second. Orestis
features 32GB of main memory (DDR-II 666) and two 2,5" Sata hard disk drives. Electrical
power is provided by four hot-swappable power supplies, redundant in 2+2 configuration, with
800W each. Operating Systems are Solaris 10 x86 and Ubuntu.
Getting an account:
If you want to work on Orestis, please contact Wilfried Gansterer
(«Email»), specifying
- why you would like to work on Orestis,
- what project you are working on,
- what your preferred OS is (Solaris or Ubuntu),
- whether you have special storage requirements (very large files, input or output),
- if you need exclusive access to the machine (and why), and
- what major libraries and tools you need (BLAS, LAPACK Matlab, PAPI,…).
If you are granted an account on Orestis,
- you will be added to a mailing list where relevant information is disseminated and
- you will be allowed to reserve time slots on Orestis (see following section for details).
Your account will initially be valid for 12 months. Optionally, it can be prolonged. Six months
after your account has expired, it will be deleted together with all data (it's your
responsability to save relevant data for future use).
Orestis reservation system
Orestis is a dual-boot server allowing for sporadic exclusive access to users, when necessary.
To organize access, the following scheme applies:
- If you do not need exclusive access and want to work under Ubuntu, just check «the doodle» for the current schedule and find out when there is no reservation. Orestis is then available for multiple users under Ubuntu. (The current policy is that Orestis runs under Ubuntu for multiple users if no one has asked for anything else. This might change in the future.)
- If you want to work under Solaris, but don't need exclusive access:
- Access the Doodle poll admin interface (link comes with your account)
- Reserve time for the user "Multiple Users (Solaris)"
- If you do not know how to switch from Ubuntu to Solaris, please write an email to «Technik» stating the reservation. Orestis will then be rebooted for you at the beginning of the time slot and back to Ubuntu at the end of the time slot.
- If you know how to reboot, please do so at the beginning of your time slot an DO NOT FORGET to boot back to Ubuntu at the end of your time slot.
- If you need exclusive access:Advice: Exclusive access to high-end servers is a precious good. Do request it with care. Prepare your work and do code development when Orestis runs in multiple user mode, whenever possible. As a rule of thumb, do not reserve more than two days in a row without a really pressing need to do so.
- If not yet done so, create a new participant to the Doodle poll, stating your name and your OS (e.g. "Max Kunterbunt (Ubuntu)")
- Access the Doodle poll admin interface (link comes with your account)
- Modify your entry to reserve the time slots desired. (Typically, you can reserve time slots up to one month in advance.) Do not reserve more than two days in a row, except if really necessary.
- If you know beforehand that you will not need some of the slots reserved, please release them!
- If you do not know how to switch from Ubuntu to Solaris, please write an email to «Technik» stating the reservation. Orestis will then be rebooted for you at the beginning of the time slot and back to Ubuntu at the end of the time slot.
- If you know how to reboot, please do so at the beginning of your time slot and DO NOT FORGET to boot back to Ubuntu at the end of your time slot.
FAQ:
Q: How do I know if there is really no other user logged in?
A: Type "who" at the prompt.
Q: Orestis runs not the OS specified in the Doodle poll.
A: Please write an email to «Technik».
Q: When running long simulations, do I need to have a terminal open all the time?
A: No. Use the GNU screen utility which allows you to attach and detach existing shell instances. To learn more,
- read «the intro to GNU Screen» or
- type "man screen" at the Orestis prompt.