The Fusion computer, which is currently a part of LCRC along with Blues, will be decommissioned on January 31, 2017. Fusion, a 2600-core Intel Nehalem-based cluster, began service in late 2009. It has served as a reliable computing resource for over 7 years, well-beyond the normal service life. Fusion is being decommissioned to make room for a new cluster that will be installed in its space.
LCRC periodically upgrades its hardware resources to meet the needs of the computing community at the laboratory and take advantage of new technologies. These upgrades and enhancements are aimed at increasing productivity and scientific range of ANL researchers. The new computer, named Bebop, is expected to arrive around March.
For approximately 6 months, from the time Fusion is decommissioned until the time the new machine goes into production, all jobs will be run on Blues. As a reminder, Blues is the 5000-core, Sandy Bridge cluster that went into operation in late 2012. In addition to the 5000 Sandy Bridge cores, Blues has nearly 1000 Haswell cores and 6 big-memory-GPU nodes. Since resources will be tight during the transition, we remind you to use these Haswell and GPU nodes as well.
When Bebop comes on-line for production, it will have about 10 times the peak compute power of Blues. At this time, Blues will be repurposed to industry projects, on-demand analyses, and testing, while the balance of Argonne projects will be run on Bebop. No changes are planned for the dedicated Blues nodes purchased by groups/projects.
We will send out another reminder when we are closer to the date for decommissioning Fusion. Users are encouraged to send an email to [email protected] with questions and/or concerns regarding this transition. We appreciate your patience during the transition period, when the wait-times for some jobs might be longer than normal.
As in the past, dedicated nodes can also be purchased for Bebop. Please contact me for more information.
Sincerely,
Ray Bair
Director, LCRC
