17 Dec
2007
17 Dec
'07
10:57 a.m.
On Dec 16, 2007, at 11:19 PM, Richard wrote:
OK, we talked earlier about how high this architecture
could go and
there was some mention of 256 and 512 processor systems. However, I
just stumbled across a press release at LANL describing their
installation of a massive 6144 processor system consisting of 48 sets
of 128 nodes all arranged as a giant supercomputer:
Above 128 processors you need a special "Cray" router. Above either 512
or 1024 you'll probably need custom SGI setup, possibly a custom IRIX.
At any rate, 32 or 64 processors are pretty fast (remember as you scale
it's harder and harder to get parallel code to run across all
processors), and don't forget to factor in electricity and cooling.
Most hobbyists only run one or two racks.
17 Dec
17 Dec
11:16 a.m.
Scott Quinn wrote:
On Dec 16, 2007, at 11:19 PM, Richard wrote:
Do these humongous configurations run a single OS image? If so, cool!
Peace... Sridhar
OK, we talked earlier about how high this
architecture could go and
there was some mention of 256 and 512 processor systems. However, I
just stumbled across a press release at LANL describing their
installation of a massive 6144 processor system consisting of 48 sets
of 128 nodes all arranged as a giant supercomputer:
Above 128 processors you need a special "Cray" router. Above either 512
or 1024 you'll probably need custom SGI setup, possibly a custom IRIX.
At any rate, 32 or 64 processors are pretty fast (remember as you scale
it's harder and harder to get parallel code to run across all
processors), and don't forget to factor in electricity and cooling.
Most hobbyists only run one or two racks. 
11:35 a.m.
On 17/12/2007 16:16, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Yes, they do. And it has a little LCD display in the centre of the main
rack that can show you bargraphs of the CPU and system activity, per
processor.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Scott Quinn wrote:
Above 128
processors you need a special "Cray" router. Above either
512 or 1024 you'll probably need custom SGI setup, possibly a custom
IRIX. At any rate, 32 or 64 processors are pretty fast (remember as
you scale it's harder and harder to get parallel code to run across
all processors), and don't forget to factor in electricity and
cooling. Most hobbyists only run one or two racks.
Do these humongous configurations run a single OS image? If so, cool! 
11:46 a.m.
On Dec 17, 2007, at 11:16 AM, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Do these humongous configurations run a single OS image? If so, cool!
Yup, single image. The O2K you got from me has eight
processors...if you get another chassis just like it and link them
together with CrayLink cables, it'll be one machine with sixteen
processors, transparently.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
OK, we talked earlier about how high this architecture
could go and
there was some mention of 256 and 512 processor systems. However, I
just stumbled across a press release at LANL describing their
installation of a massive 6144 processor system consisting of 48
sets
of 128 nodes all arranged as a giant supercomputer:
Above 128 processors you need a special "Cray" router. Above
either 512 or 1024 you'll probably need custom SGI setup, possibly
a custom IRIX. At any rate, 32 or 64 processors are pretty fast
(remember as you scale it's harder and harder to get parallel code
to run across all processors), and don't forget to factor in
electricity and cooling. Most hobbyists only run one or two racks. 
1:21 p.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
In article <666E3456-608D-4C24-A95A-1E42DBA11185 at neurotica.com>,
Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> writes:
Yup, single image. The O2K you got from me has
eight
processors...if you get another chassis just like it and link them
together with CrayLink cables, it'll be one machine with sixteen
processors, transparently.
The manual I'm reading says that Origin 2000 machines can't be
connected by CrayLink cables, but this seems to contradict what I see
in the box (i.e. it has two router cards with CrayLink connections).
What's the straight dope on that?
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
2:15 p.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
On Dec 17, 2007, at 1:21 PM, Richard wrote:
I can't tell you the straight dope, but I can tell you that *my*
machine was indeed connected that way (dual-chassis) until I sent
half of it to Sridhar.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007
Yup, single
image. The O2K you got from me has eight
processors...if you get another chassis just like it and link them
together with CrayLink cables, it'll be one machine with sixteen
processors, transparently.
The manual I'm reading says that Origin 2000 machines can't be
connected by CrayLink cables, but this seems to contradict what I see
in the box (i.e. it has two router cards with CrayLink connections).
What's the straight dope on that?
3:18 p.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
In article <BBFE57F5-F00C-408F-AD25-FB0E83CFF092 at neurotica.com>,
Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> writes:
On Dec 17, 2007, at 1:21 PM, Richard wrote:
Yeah, from what I could tell as long as you had bona-fide router
boards (not null router or star router) then you should be able to
connect Onyx2K modules together into a larger fabric. Unless the
default midplane doesn't support this, I don't see why it wouldn't
work.
It seems the essential difference between an Onyx2 deskside and the
Origin 2000 deskside is the midplane and the board set. Can anyone
confirm that?
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
The manual I'm reading says that Origin 2000
machines can't be
connected by CrayLink cables, but this seems to contradict what I see
in the box (i.e. it has two router cards with CrayLink connections).
What's the straight dope on that?
I can't tell you the straight dope, but I can tell you that *my*
machine was indeed connected that way (dual-chassis) until I sent
half of it to Sridhar.
8:04 p.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
On Dec 17, 2007, at 3:18 PM, Richard wrote:
It seems the essential difference between an Onyx2
deskside and the
Origin 2000 deskside is the midplane and the board set. Can anyone
confirm that?
Hmm, the only difference I was aware of was the I/O
module...keyboard/mouse interface or not.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
18 Dec
18 Dec
4:31 a.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
On 18/12/2007 01:04, Dave McGuire wrote:
On Dec 17, 2007, at 3:18 PM, Richard wrote:
That's not a reliable criterion, because some Origins also have the
expanded Base I/O module with mouse, keyboard, audio and video (at
least, some rackmount ones do).
Richard is correct; the essential difference is that the midplanes and
board sets are different. Looking from the back, an Origin deskside has
space for 4 node boards at the left, then the Base I/O module and PCI
box (if fitted) and then 12 XIO slots (for 12 half-height or 6
full-height boards) on the right. An Onyx can have only two node
boards, then a graphics board set (3 or 4 boards depending on how much
raster memory it has), then the Base I/O unit and PCI box, which are
much further over than they are in an Origin, and 5 XIO slots (3
full-height or 5 half-height boards).
This isn't true in a rackmount system, because a rackmount Onyx2 has a
module with 4 node boards (same module as an Origin) in the bottom, and
a different graphics module with no node boards, Base I/O, or PCI, but
two sets of graphics with up to six raster memory cards in total, in the
top.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
It seems the essential difference between an
Onyx2 deskside and the
Origin 2000 deskside is the midplane and the board set. Can anyone
confirm that?
Hmm, the only difference I was aware of was the I/O
module...keyboard/mouse interface or not.
8:37 a.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
In article <4f08d175db0bc97e958210e869e5056d at neurotica.com>,
Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> writes:
On Dec 17, 2007, at 3:18 PM, Richard wrote:
The diagrams of the midplane are definately different in the manual.
(For real this time :-)
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
It seems the essential difference between an
Onyx2 deskside and the
Origin 2000 deskside is the midplane and the board set. Can anyone
confirm that?
Hmm, the only difference I was aware of was the I/O
module...keyboard/mouse interface or not.
17 Dec
17 Dec
7:04 p.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
On 17/12/2007 18:21, Richard wrote:
The manual I'm reading says that Origin 2000
machines can't be
connected by CrayLink cables, but this seems to contradict what I see
in the box (i.e. it has two router cards with CrayLink connections).
What's the straight dope on that?
Unless it's trying to say you can't link two separate machines (and
still have them be separate machines), the manual is wrong. Which
manual is it? Apart from single-module units, all Origin 2000s use
Craylink connections to link the modules. You can even link two O200s
that way. My 2-module O2000 has four Craylinks.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
18 Dec
18 Dec
8:37 a.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
In article <47670E7A.2020604 at dunnington.plus.com>,
Pete Turnbull <pete at dunnington.plus.com> writes:
Unless it's trying to say you can't link two
separate machines (and
still have them be separate machines), the manual is wrong.
I tried to find where I read this and I think I found what I was
reading that made me think you couldn't link them but I simply
misinterpreted the manual.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
4:38 a.m.
New subject: CrayLink connections between Origin 2000s
On 17/12/2007 18:21, Richard wrote:
The manual I'm reading says that Origin 2000
machines can't be
connected by CrayLink cables, but this seems to contradict what I see
in the box (i.e. it has two router cards with CrayLink connections).
What's the straight dope on that?
Thinking about that when I was looking up the Onxy2 config, I wonder if
the manual is referring specifically to a deskside. The normal front
panel on a deskside covers the router board so you don't have access to
the Craylink connectors. If you remove the panel and have the
appropriate router board, it should work.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
17 Dec
17 Dec
12:29 p.m.
On Monday 17 December 2007, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Scott Quinn wrote:
Yeah, it's just another NUMA box. :)
Pat
--
Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
Above 128 processors you need a special
"Cray" router. Above either
512 or 1024 you'll probably need custom SGI setup, possibly a
custom IRIX. At any rate, 32 or 64 processors are pretty fast
(remember as you scale it's harder and harder to get parallel code
to run across all processors), and don't forget to factor in
electricity and cooling. Most hobbyists only run one or two racks.
Do these humongous configurations run a single OS image? If so,
cool!
1:22 p.m.
New subject: SGI Cray Router
In article <7165c2613524c2fe9c6cb0e1534d8fb6 at valleyimplants.com>,
Scott Quinn <compoobah at valleyimplants.com> writes:
Above 128 processors you need a special
"Cray" router.
Anyone got one of these? I see the rack systems on ebay and other
places fairly frequently but haven't seen the router cabinet yet.
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
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14 comments
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participants (6)
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compoobah＠valleyimplants.com -
legalize＠xmission.com -
mcguire＠neurotica.com -
pat＠computer-refuge.org -
pete＠dunnington.plus.com -
ploopster＠gmail.com