As Linux clusters have matured, the criteria measuring their
success has evolved. Rather than
measuring a system’s effectiveness with a Linpack benchmark or placement on the
Top 500 list, systems are now measured by the productivity they deliver to the
user community they serve. Once the
machine is installed the work is not complete.
Several areas must be addressed on a continual basis to increase the
use-ability and utilization of a Linux cluster.
This presentation will center on the steps taken by an actual
customer to achieve increased productivity on their Linux cluster system. Both successes and failures associated with
each of the following topics will be addressed:
-
System
architecture and optimization
-
Supporting
software and tools
-
Hardware
and software system maintenance
-
Porting/optimizing
end-user applications
-
Education
of system administrators and end-users
Since Linux clusters are a conglomeration of many third party
components, vendor involvement with both customers and third party providers is
absolutely essential to deploying and running production systems
effectively. Key aspects of vendor
involvement will be addressed as to how they relate to a customer achieving the
highest productivity on their system.