---------------------------------------------------------------------- H H PPP CCC UK NATIONAL HPC SERVICE H H P P C C -------------------------- HHHHH PPP C x x provided by H H P C C xx EPCC and H H P CCC x x CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HPCx User Mailing 030 23 January 2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings-- MOVING TO PHASE 2 As most people will know, this year the HPCx service will be moving to a new platform. This will give us: - A total of around 6 Tflops on the Linpack test, by use of the next version of the POWER4 processor - Improved inter-node communications, using the next generation HPS switch - Frames treated as a single 32-processor unit, rather than 4 8-processor LPARs - About twice the disk space In effect, this is an entirely new system, which will be built in the HPCx computer room next to the old one. Moving the service to this new system will be a complex process. We have a plan for this which has been agreed with EPSRC and which we hope will keep disturbances in the service to a minimum. In particular, we will maintain a service to users throughout the upgrade process, apart from one five-day period (which includes a weekend), and a single day later for acceptance trials. Apart from this downtime, the user service will always be capable of running 512-processor jobs at least. Here is the planned timetable for the move. It's important to understand that this is still quite tentative, and may require changes depending on what happens as we proceed. 02 Apr Interim Phase 2 system starts fitness-for-use testing. Some user groups have 'at risk' access without charge. Phase 1 service not affected. 15 Apr 22-frame Phase 2 cluster (20 production frames) starts pre-service release validation. Phase 1 service not affected. The Phase 2 system at this point is capable of running a 512-processor job, as well as development, serial and interactive-parallel work. Only when this has passed validation will we proceed to the next stage. 23 Apr Phase 1 service ends. Service on Phase 2 suspended to allow migration of data, user accounts, etc, and associated validation 28 Apr 22-frame Phase 2 service opens for all users. From this point on, the new service must fulfil our reliability targets May-Jun The new service is progressively updated by the addition of extra frames. The plan is that this should be done during normal maintenance sessions. Jun Acceptance trials for the complete Phase 2 system, with acceptance around 15 June. Once again, this is a tentative plan. Most users should not notice any change to the service before 23 April, which is the earliest date for the shutdown of Phase 1. We appreciate that this plan will mean a reduced capability for a short while, and we apologise in advance for this. However, we think that the enhanced system thereafter will compensate for this. Regards --John ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Earlier mailings: http://www.hpcx.ac.uk/support/notices/index.html To be removed from the mailing list: log into your website account, go to the "Update" page, and click the "Opt out of user emails" field; then click "Commit update". -- John Fisher j.fisher@epcc.ed.ac.uk HPCx User Administration and Helpdesk HPCx: http://www.hpcx.ac.uk Helpdesk: support@hpcx.ac.uk Phone: +44 131 650 5029 Fax: +44 131 650 6555