Its not often that IT puts out information on the systems that run the various services on campus, but I figured it would be fun to post this to satisfy the geeks among us.
The IT High-Availability Linux Cluster is responsible for running the following services for the university:
- File services via NFS for the High-Performance computing resources (Beowulf clusters) and via Samba for access from Windows-based workstations
- NIS services for system authorization, group management, and other system services
- GridEngine for managing jobs on the High-Performance computing resources
- Software License services
- Apache web server and MySQL database for student and faculty web sites, departmental web sites (including IT, Research Computing, Clean Energy Research Center, etc.), and this fancy WordPress MU installation
So, you’re probably wondering what kind of hardware we’re running all of this stuff on… Well, the cluster is made up of four HP Proliant DL165 G6 servers, each with the following specifications:
- 2 x Six-Core AMD Opteron 2427 Processors @ 3.8 GHz
- 24 GB DDR2 Memory @ 800MHz
- 2 x Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5704 Gigabit Ethernet
- Dual-port Intel 10GB CX4 Server adapter
- Emulex Helios-X FibreChannel Host adapter
The servers run RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.4 and utilize the Xen virtualization stack and RedHat Cluster suite for high-availability and continuity of service.
The system was designed and built in-house by the folks in IT Research Computing.
[...] A lot faster, mostly in part to the new hardware [...]