COLSA Corporation

Taking Apple Xserve to MACH5

“One cluster alternative had a reliable processor but high power and heat requirements,” Medeiros says. “That’s important to us, because we needed a large system, and we had to consider the cost of cooling and powering up.

“Another also had a robust, capable processor, but was much more expensive than the G5 — by an order of four or five to one — so we could afford to buy a whole lot more G5s and get much more capability.

“The Xserve G5 is a perfect fit for us because it has a smaller footprint, uses less power, and it gives us the performance that we were looking for. We went through a bid process with specific requirements and the Apple Xserve G5 gave us the best value.”

Desktop Access

Medeiros uses a 17-inch PowerBook and colleagues use both Macs and PCs to access the cluster. After downloading a CFD data file the cluster has generated, COLSA and RDECOM scientists use visualization software to examine streamlines, temperatures and pressures around the model or object.

“The Xserve G5 is a perfect fit for us because it has a smaller footprint, uses less power, and it gives us the performance that we were looking for. We went through a bid process with specific requirements and the Apple Xserve G5 gave us the best value.”

“I still use both Macs and PCs, but I prefer the PowerBook,” Medeiros says. “It’s easier to use and I can actually get work done without fussing or having to figure out how the bits and pieces work together.

“The wonderful thing about Mac OS X besides its great capabilities and attractive desktop is the fact that the terminal is UNIX at heart,” Medeiros adds. “That’s the interface a lot of scientists and engineers cut their teeth on, and it gives them the most control over the system. That’s a tremendous advantage.”

Attracting Attention

COLSA’s new Apple supercluster has attracted the attention of NASA, other government agencies and commercial customers who visit COLSA to learn more about it.

“Everybody is interested in getting that kind of computational power,” Medeiros says. “We’ve been dedicated to our RDECOM customer since 1999, but we’re also interested in developing new customers.

“The cluster provides a way of developing that additional base.”

Moving In

From delivery to unpacking, racking, cabling and power hookup, physical installation of the 1,566-node cluster took about eight days.

“Once MACH5 is put into production, day-to-day administration of the system will be minimal,” says Medeiros. “We will only have to tinker with the cluster setup in response to changes in test configurations.

“When MACH5 is operational the only thing we should have to worry about is if a node fails. Then we just go in and check it out. But on a day to day basis, we don’t expect that a lot of pedaling is going to be required.”

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