On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 2:37 PM, Prentice Bisbal <prent...@ias.edu> wrote:
> Craig Tierney wrote: > > On 2/9/11 7:38 AM, Prentice Bisbal wrote: > >> I don't think Numascale/ScaleMP has much of a cost advantage anymore. > >> > >> About 6 months ago, I purchased a couple of Dell PowerEdge R815s with > >> 128 GB of RAM and 32 cores. We looked at similar RAM configurations a > >> couple of years ago. and the cost premium for that much RAM was > >> prohibitive (the price for additional RAM seemed to go up exponentially > >> with the amount of RAM) so we stayed at 32 GB. This time around, the > >> premium for the additional RAM seemed marginal. Not sure how large you > >> can go and keep that "marginal" relationship, but it's much larger than > >> it was a couple of years ago. > >> > > > > There is only so much memory you can put in a box, regardless of the > > cost. ScaleMP/Numascale let you get around that issue. What if I need > > a TB of RAM? Yes, I might be able to convert my algorithms, but if I can > > add $3k per node to get cache-coherent memory, why not go that route? > > >Agreed. I was going to add the caveat that there are limits to how much > >RAM you can add to a single box, or there eventually be a point the > >amount of RAM in a single box vs. price is no longer nonlinear, but then > >I got lazy. ;) > Don't understand why you need TB of RAM? Don't forget the fact that $3K can almost buy one-node!!! > > > > > >> And don't forget to figure in the cost of the interconnect. I don't know > >> what Numascale requires, but ScaleMP require IB, which can add > >> significant costs if you don't have an existing IB fabric to use. > >> > > > > ScaleMP is a software solution, Numascale is a cache-coherent hardware > solution. > > The list cost of the 3D torus version Numascale card with 4GB Ram > (highest end card). > > Cables are similar to IB, about $120 each. > > > > It would be really cool to build SMP system to sit next to my cluster. > When users > > need large memory, or want to do things with UPC or other similar > languages, > > an SMP system like this would be handy. > > > > - I am not advocating for Numascale, or any other products here. I am > just > > trying to provide information to the community. > > > > Craig > > > > > > > >> Prentice > >> > >> > >> Douglas Eadline wrote: > >>> Although I wrote about the SMP and the Numascale hardware, > >>> I have not yet had a chance to use it. > >>> > >>> To me there are two issues worth considering. First, > >>> if you need a big SMP this might be a low > >>> cost solution. Second, should your application > >>> not scale best in a node-based ccNuma system (ScaleMP > >>> or Numascale), MPI is still an option. Indeed, no need > >>> to rewrite the codes. And, management is probably > >>> much easier. > >>> > >>> Of course for large systems, clusters work best. > >>> > >>> -- > >>> Doug > >>> > >>> > >>>> On Thu, 2011-02-03 at 09:45 +0000, Hearns, John wrote: > >>>>> Also look at ScaleMP and Numascale > >>>>> Here's a damn good article from Doug Eadline: > >>>>> http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7947 > >>>>> > >>>>> I must admit though I don't know how far a budget of 30K takes you > >>>>> there! > >>>> My understanding is that the Numascale cards cost "a bit more" than IB > >>>> cards but you don't need a switch (it's a 3D taurus I think) so it > would > >>>> be worth looking into. > >>>> > >>>> Rob > >>>> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin > Computing > >> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > > _______________________________________________ > > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing > > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > > > > -- > Prentice Bisbal > Linux Software Support Specialist/System Administrator > School of Natural Sciences > Institute for Advanced Study > Princeton, NJ > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org sponsored by Penguin Computing > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf >
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