Mark Hahn wrote:
huh? what value does big-A have to add here? the correct queueing system is the one that is cheap, low-maintenance, efficient, easy to use, etc. those are things that users and sysadmins know, not behind-desk-sitters...
Difference of definition here. I believe that Big-A administration is how to best manage the resources of Technology to meet everyones needs. In that sense, a submission system is very important because it lets us leverage those resources.
I can understand frustration with the Big-A. Bean counters can be frustrating. A priority of the day mentality can as well.
My background is film. Filmmaking is all about solving problems. Twenty-one years ago, my film department got some computers to use for animation and whatever else they could be used for. At the time, I was paid to run the department's editing lab. So I learned about the Amiga and how to use it to do more than anyone thought it would. That led to writing some code to make a Sun box run an edit list and tell a controller that had a serial interface what to do. That was 20 years ago. For the past nine years, I've worked mostly on HPC and research computing. We've worked our way from vax to irix to solaris and clusters. We've gone from 4 processors to 500 dedicated to research.
These days at least half of my time is Big-A administration, managing people and working with departments to get work done. This focus has led to growth and personal trust from these departments. They know that we won't always be able to give them what they want. But they believe that they will get as many of their needs met as we can.
For example, I can set up one cluster, with multiple queues and priorities that will serve multiple owners with a single head node, address, networking scheme, storage scheme, and connect it to the University's centralized backup system. This means more nodes for work and less for administrivia. It means that we don't have multiple batch systems on multiple headnodes running the jobs for many individual machines. Is this solution always best for any one individual? No. Does it let the departments get more research done? Yes.
So, even now, my job is about solving problems. But the end result is more important than any film. The end result may be something that saves a life, or improves ones standard of life. The end result may even change the world.
Mike Davis (feeling far too wordy and poetic) _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
