|
|
|
|
Cornell Center for Materials Research&Intel Technology for Education 2000 Progress Report - 4th Quarter Status Report
Accomplishments Windows NTInstallation and Maintenance Strategies"We even accept the fact that we occasionally need to completely re-install the desktop OS and all of our applications, and restore all personal files from the latest backup." Mark Hall and Ralph Barker "The Death of the Desktop", Performance Computing, August 1998 Our first strategy is to make the installation and re-installation of WinNT and application software from scratch to be as simple and rapid a process as possible. We are using Ghost to save and load disk images on our AFS (Andrew File System, Transarc) fileserver via Samba, a public domain SMB server running under UNIX. We have successfully deployed 8 of these machines and can re-install to an identical configuration quickly. However, this plan has run into a fatal flaw. New machines arriving have slightly different hardware configurations. A simple revision update in the ethernet controller rendered the boot disk inoperative. Once that was fixed a similar revision change in the SCSI controller made the previous images useless. We are now working on a strategy that combines an installation "recipe", remote-distribution and an image. With this we will come up with a well defined minimal set of instructions that can be used to completely reinstall the OS. From this minimal installation we will run remote-distribution software (PcRdist) that will use a pull-mechanism to download various packages and configure the system and registry for printers and other resources. Finally we will make an image of this install and save it for later reinstallation as needed. |
CCMR Computing Facility is based on UNIX (AIX, SunOS, IRIX, Linux) servers and clients. Work is progressing on developing tools and techniques to integrate NT into this structure. We are using Transarc Corporation's AFS (Andrew File System) client for WinNT to leverage our existing AFS based file service, backup, authentication, and administration infrastructure for WinNT. We have purchased and installed NT-AFS for this purpose.
In contrast to NFS (Network File System) which is stateless and relies on local system caching, AFS uses it's own caching mechanism to keep frequently used files local to the client. This has the potential to greatly reduce network traffic and improve performance. Only the software that is used on that workstation is actually local to that station. However, additional memory overhead is significant and the type of files being accessed, many small or a few large files, can affect performance. Also, the initial access on a file takes longer as the client retrieves the file from the server and is placed into the client's local AFS caching system.
We are looking into the performance of this versus NT Server, Samba and local file access. We have seen some very irradic performance while exploring disks on the server. We are concerned about the interaction between the NT file cache and the AFS file cache. Both are in memory, both are essentially doing the same thing but with different mechanisms.
For authentication we are experimenting with a GINA (Graphical Identification aNd Authentication?) replacement developed at Notre Dame. It is not desirable to maintain separate authentication systems for NT and UNIX for 500 users. The ND_GINA enables WinNT to use AFS Kerberos authentication for login. Roaming profiles are stored in each user's AFS home directory. By executing several scripts at boot time and login/logout time, the ND_GINA also provides an infrastructure for workstation administration (see printing below for example). For other GINA projects, see the MIT NT GINA Information Website.
So far, we have modified, built, and installed the ND_GINA. We have demonstrated that authentication, fileserver access, and roaming profiles work. Three workstations are available for users, an other is being used by the CCMR Ion Beam Facility. Full-scale deployment is awaiting completion of development and implementation of our WinNT installation strategy mentioned above.
A signficant problem is the inconsistancy of the AFS home directory access and subsequent absence of the user's profile. NT-AFS 3.4a patch 10 has recently come out and may solve this problem. Not enough testing has been done to determine this yet.
Printing within CCMR is accounted. Therefore login and authentication are an issue on each system. For NT were are using lpr configured print services. This is being managed by the GINA modifications and PcRdist so that as printers are removed or installed the user's view, Printer Folder, is kept current.
We are using Hummingbird's Exceed Software for Xwindow client access to our UNIX systems. We have also installed Microsoft Suite provided to the Intel grant equipment by a grant from Microsoft. Currently we have not installed any specific scientific software on these systems. We have purchased IDL, a visualization package and have licenses for Abaqus, finite element modelling, and the Portland Group FORTRAN compiler which is essential for the migration of some software.
Lam/Ast - Micro Electro Mechanical/Optical System
simulations. This kind
of simulation uses finite element or finite difference software. We have written a FORTRAN
program to do finite difference time domain simulations. A 2-D simulation takes up 128M
RAM. We hope to do 3-D simulations soon. Recently our group started using SUPREME and
PISCES simulators. Both of the simulation packages require at least 64M RAM to only to
start running. To use its graphical display at the same time an analysis is running
requires significant CPU and video capabilities and was not possible on existing PC
equipment.
Revesz - Development of remote access capability to the CCMR Ion Beam facility.
Facility User Room - 3 NT machines are available for users in the computing facilities general user rooms.
IRG2 / Ast Install and maintain a datebase on glass. A commercial package containing 38,000 data has been located.
We had a small installed base of Linux systems running on Intel systems. With the increase in numbers we have developed a more complete installation strategy for Linux on Intel architecture workstations. Like WinNT this involves an installation recipe that can be easily followed. We had developed a system configuration strategy for other UNIX variants and we modified that to handle the addition of Linux. Unlike NT where most system settings are in the registry, these modifications are spread across many files. However, these files are text based, easily modified with standard UNIX utilities and we have years of expertise in handling this. UNIX is inherently multi-user so the system needs no special software for handling setup upon login for individuals. Most software is located on the AFS fileserver so updates appear via the network without a specific distribution mechanism.
We are finding that recent Linux packages like that coming from RedHat are including more software pre-installed with conflicts with some of our fileserver versions. This will require us to reevaluate where this software should reside and how it will be kept current.
We are using the MIT AFS client for Linux . This is public domain and unsupported by Transarc. Transarc has recenlty announced support of an AFS client for Linux 2.2. This client is still in beta test and we are currently using Linux 2.0. We plan on shifting to this in the 3rd quarter of 1999. See the section of File Service under Windows NT for a description of AFS.
Login is authticated against the AFS Kerberos server and allows full facility access.
Because Linux uses BSD lpr print services and configuration it integrates quickly and seemlessly into our current environment.
Six of the Intel Grant workstations are available as compute servers using the Distributed Queuing System from Florida State University which we also use for our IBM/AIX and SGI/IRIX systems . These compute servers are available to our entire 500 user faculty and graduate student research community. This allows the user to send long jobs to several machines that will run unattended and may take from hours to weeks for completion.
We have also acquired, built, and installed a large selection of data analysis and graphics software for the Linux/Intel platform. In addition to our standard UNIX supported software we have purchased IDL, a visualization package and have licenses for the Portland Group FORTRAN compiler which is essential for the migration of some software.
Schwarz - Numerical computation and graphics using Matlab
Sachse - Preparation of papers and presentations for scientific publication using TeX
Johnson -
Investigations into solid hydrogen using VASP (Vienna
Ab-Initio Simulation Package). It does first-principles quantum mechanics
calculations for solids and liquids. The ab-initio calculation is a very standard
computational tool in physics these days. Much of this work has been done using
AIX/IBM-RS6000 and IRIX/SGI-PowerOnyx.
Pomeroy / IRG3 IRG3 uses
scanning and scattering probes to characterize thin films, producing real space and
momentum space (respectively) images and lineshapes. Extraction of quantitative
information from these images often requires intense image analysis, including lineshape
fitting of data Careful tuning and iteration of our fitting routines (a streamlined
Mathematica notebook) allows us to quantitatively corroborate data from real and momentum
space (STM and CHESS), as well as have the power and versatility to make on-the-fly
corrections to experimental procedure based on the information extracted. We propose
to use this computer to enhance our ability and efficiency to perform this analysis.
Facility User Room - 3 Linux machines are available for users in the computing facilities general user rooms.
The 100 MB switched network now includes our general user rooms in both Clark and Thurston Halls. Our current bottleneck is in the infrastructure wiring to the offices, labs and the building. Cornell Information Technologies is planning to offer 100 MB connections in the Summer of 1999.
100 MB switched Ethernet has been installed in our central computer rooms at both the Clark Hall and the Thurston Hall sites. This is helping to relieve the network congestion that having many fast Intel computers can create, and to improve throughput. Further testing needs to be done.
| Transfer | Speed | KB/sec | Pkt/sec | Notes |
| (MB) | (sustained) | |||
| NT-NT R/W | 100 | 1,080 | 800 | (SMB) |
| NT-AFS Read | 10/100 | 771 | 740 | |
| NT-AFS Write | 100/10 | 771 | 740 | |
| NT-AFS Read | 10 | 415 | 740 | |
| AIX-AFS Read | 10 | 402 | 400 | |
| AIX-AFS Write | 10 | 519 | 740 | |
| AIX-AIX R/W | 10 | 771 | 740 | (rcp) |
We have only begun to compare performance between Intel and other systems running as well as NT versus Linux. We expect to do this on standard applications that are used under normal operating conditions, i.e. network and normal services running. We are currently compiling this information and will be updating the results shortly.
| Test | CPU | OS | CPU Time | Real Time | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| latex1 | Intel PII/266 | NT 4.0 | 3.2 | 7/9/98 | ||
| Linux 2.0.33 | 0.89 | 2.2 | 7/10/98 | |||
| IBM Pwr2/59 | AIX 4.1 | 5.62 | 7.9 | |||
| tex1 | Intel PII/266 | NT 4.0 | 1.20 | 7/9/98 | ||
| Linux 2.0.33 | 0.23 | 0.48 | 7/10/98 | |||
| IBM Pwr2/59 | AIX 4.1 | 0.68 | 0.74 |
|
||
EB |
Intel PII/300 |
Linux 2.033 |
8:53 |
|
2/5/99 |
|
Intel Xeon/400 |
Linux 2.0.33 |
6:10 |
" |
|
||
|
IBM Power2SC/120 |
AIX 4.2 |
10:33 |
|
" |
|
Next Quarter Plans
Address specific performance issues that are arising with WinNT. Development and implement a file system/registry lock-down strategy for NT. Examine methods needed to upgrade or add applications to configured NT systems. Test and benchmark UNIX workstation applications under Windows and Linux on Intel platform. (TeX, IDL,Hint,Spec) Deploy NT Server for IDL Licensing and Samba inter-operation testing. Install a 4 system Extreme Linux Beowulf cluster for batch processing
Contacts
 | Faculty
| ||||||
| CCMR Research staff
| ||||||
| Graduate Students | ||||||
| CCMR Intel Grant Status - Local CCMR page will be most up-to-date information on this project |
Equipment Utilization
| Name | Type | Received | Site | OS | Utilization |
| 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Clark | WinNT | Relocating to CCMR Interdisciplinary Research Group |
|
| 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Clark | Linux | Relocating to CCMR Interdisciplinary Research Group |
|
| 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Thurston | WinNT | ||
| 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Thurston | Linux | ||
| watson | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Clark | WinNT | CCMR_GINA testing |
| bob | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Clark | WinNT | CCMR_GINA user room, replicated |
| maine | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Thurston | WinNT | Revesz |
| hood | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Thurston | WinNT | Lam |
| dinosaur | 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub | 2/98 | Clark | N/A | Network Hub |
| ccmrs01 | 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub | 4/98 | Clark | N/A | Network Hub |
| bkts00 | 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub | 2/98 | Thurston | N/A | Network Hub |
| bkts01 | 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub | 4/98 | Thurston | N/A | Network Hub |
| utah | 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB w/tape | 4/98 | Thurston | Linux | Computer server |
| ohio | 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB | 4/98 | Thurston | Linux | Compute server Johnson |
| bumble | 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB | 4/98 | Clark | Linux | CCMR user room, Schwarz |
| bee | 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB w/tape | 4/98 | Clark | Linux | Computer server |
| seven | 400Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 8/98 | Clark | WinNT | CCMR_GINA development |
| 400Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 8/98 | Clark | WinNT | CCMR_GINA user room, replicated | |
| texas | 400Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 8/98 | Thurston | WinNT | CCMR_GINA user room, replicated |
| iowa | 400Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 8/98 | Thurston | WinNT | CCMR_GINA user room, replicated |
| wanda | 400Mhz Pentium Xeon 256MB | 12/98 | Clark | Linux | CCMR user room |
| malcolm | 400Mhz Pentium Xeon 256MB | 12/98 | Clark | Linux | CCMR staff test |
| neelix | 400Mhz Pentium Xeon 256MB | 12/98 | Thurston | Linux | CCMR user room |
| kurn | 400Mhz Pentium Xeon 256MB | 12/98 | Thurston | Linux | Compute server Sachse |
| Beowulf | 450Mhz Pentium II 128MB (4 systems) | 12/98 | Clark | Linux | Extreme Linux MP cluster (1st Quarter) |
Updated: February 15, 1999
Webmaster
| Accomplishments |
| Next Quarter Plans |
| Contacts |
| Equipment Utilization |
"We even accept the fact that we occasionally need to completely re-install the desktop OS and all of our applications, and restore all personal files from the latest backup." Mark Hall and Ralph Barker "The Death of the Desktop", Performance Computing, August 1998
Our first strategy is to make the installation and re-installation of WinNT and application software from scratch to be as simple and rapid a process as possible. We are using Ghost to save and load disk images on our AFS fileserver via Samba.
We have successfully deployed a number of these machines and can re-install to an identical configuration quickly.
We are using Transarc Corporation's AFS (Andrew File System) client for WinNT to leverage our existing AFS based file service, backup, authentication, and administration infrastructure for WinNT. We have purchased and installed NT-AFS for several of the Intel workstations.
In contrast to NFS (Network File System) which is stateless and relies on local system caching, AFS uses it's own caching mechanism to keep frequently used files local to the client. This has the potential to greatly reduce network traffic and improve performance. Only the software that is used on that workstation is actually local to that station. However, additional memory overhead is significant and the type of files being accessed, many small or a few large files, can affect performance. Also, the initial access on a file takes longer as the client retrieves the file from the server and is placed into the client's local AFS caching system. We are looking into the performance of this versus NT Server, Samba and local file access.
For authentication we are experimenting with a GINA (Graphical Identification aNd Authentication?) replacement developed at Notre Dame. It is not desirable to maintain separate authentication systems for NT and UNIX. The ND_GINA enables WinNT to use AFS Kerberos authentication for login. Roaming profiles are stored in each user's AFS home directory. By executing several scripts at boot time and login/logout time, the ND_GINA also provides an infrastructure for workstation administration. For other GINA projects, see the MIT NT GINA Information Website.
So far, we have modified, built, and installed the ND_GINA. We have demonstrated that authentication, fileserver access, and roaming profiles work. Three workstations are available for users, 1 is being used by a specific group. Full-scale deployment is awaiting completion of development and implementation of our WinNT installation strategy.
Printing within CCMR is accounted. Therefor login and authentication was also an issue. For NT were are using lpr configured print services. This is being managed by the GINA modifications so that as printers are removed or installed the user's view, Printer Folder, is kept current.
Lam/Ast - Our group is doing some Micro Electro Mechanical/Optical System simulations. This kind of simulation uses finite element or finite difference software. We have written a FORTRAN program to do finite difference time domain simulations. A 2-D simulation takes up 128M RAM. We hope to do 3-D simulations soon. Recently our group started using SUPREME and PISCES simulators. Both of the simulation packages require at least 64M RAM to only to start running. To use its graphical display at the same time an analysis is running requires significant CPU and video capabilities and was not possible on existing PC equipment.
Revesz - Development of remote access capability to the CCMR Ion Beam facility.
We have developed an installation strategy for Linux on Intel architecture workstations. We are using the MIT AFS client for Linux. Three of the Intel Grant workstations are available as compute servers using the Distributed Queuing System from Florida State University which we also use for our IBM/AIX and SGI/IRIX systems . These compute servers are available to our entire 500 user faculty and graduate student research community. We have also acquired, built, and installed a large selection of data analysis and graphics software for the Linux/Intel platform.
Schwarz - Numerical computation and graphics using Matlab
Sachse - Preparation of papers and presentations for scientific publication using TeX
Johnson
- Investigations into solid hydrogen using VASP (Vienna
Ab-Initio Simulation Package). It does first-principles quantum
mechanics calculations for solids and liquids. The ab-initio calculation is a
very standard computational tool in physics these days. Much of this work has
been done using AIX/IBM-RS6000 and IRIX/SGI-PowerOnyx.
Expanded 100 MB Network to include our general user room in Thurston. Our bottleneck is in the infrastructure wiring to the offices, labs and the building. Cornell Information Technologies is planning to offer 100 MB connections in the Fall of 1998.
100 MB Ethernet network has been installed in our central computer rooms at both the Clark Hall and the Thurston Hall sites. This is helping to relieve the network congestion that having many fast Intel computers can create, and to improve throughput.
| Transfer | Speed | KB/sec | Pkt/sec | Notes |
| (MB) | (sustained) | |||
| NT-NT R/W | 100 | 1,080 | 800 | (SMB) |
| NT-AFS Read | 10/100 | 771 | 740 | |
| NT-AFS Write | 100/10 | 771 | 740 | |
| NT-AFS Read | 10 | 415 | 740 | |
| AIX-AFS Read | 10 | 402 | 400 | |
| AIX-AFS Write | 10 | 519 | 740 | |
| AIX-AIX R/W | 10 | 771 | 740 | (rcp) |
We have only begun to compare performance between Intel and other systems running as well as NT versus Linux. We expect to do this on standard applications that are used under normal operating conditions, i.e. network and normal services running.
| Test | CPU | OS | CPU Time | Real Time | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| latex1 | Intel PII/266 | NT 4.0 | 3.2 | 7/9/98 | ||
| Linux 2.0.33 | 0.89 | 2.2 | 7/10/98 | |||
| IBM Pwr2/59 | AIX 4.1 | 5.62 | 7.9 | |||
| tex1 | Intel PII/266 | NT 4.0 | 1.20 | 7/9/98 | ||
| Linux 2.0.33 | 0.23 | 0.48 | 7/10/98 | |||
| IBM Pwr2/59 | AIX 4.1 | 0.68 | 0.74 |
Next Quarter Plans
Address specific performance issues that are arising. Development and implementation of a file system/registry lock-down strategy. Examine methods needed to upgrade or add applications to configured systems. Expand 100 MB Network to include our general user room in Clark Hall. Deploy additional systems in the general user room. Test and benchmark UNIX workstation applications under Windows and Linux on Intel platform. (TeX, IDL) Deploy NT Server for IDL Licensing and Samba inter operation testing.
Contacts
Faculty
Eberhard Bodenschatz - 618 Clark Hall, 255-0794 Alan Zehnder - 317 Kimball Hall, 255-9181 Research staff
Mike Heisler - E20 Clark Hall, 255-7223 Daniel Blakeley - E20 Clark Hall, 255-6064 Tom Baldwin - E20 Clark Hall, 255-6064 Graduate Students
Equipment Utilization
Name Type Received Site OS Utilization seven 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB 11/97 Clark WinNT CCMR_GINA development malcolm 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB 11/97 Clark Linux Compute server; Staff workstation kurn 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB 11/97 Thurston Linux Compute server Sachse mogh 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB 11/97 Thurston Linux Compute server Johnson watson 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB 1/98 Clark WinNT CCMR_GINA testing bob 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB 1/98 Clark WinNT CCMR_GINA user room, replicated maine 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB 1/98 Thurston WinNT Revesz hood 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB 1/98 Thurston WinNT Lam dinosaur 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub 2/98 Clark N/A Network Hub ccmrs01 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub 4/98 Clark N/A Network Hub bkts00 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub 2/98 Thurston N/A Network Hub bkts01 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub 4/98 Thurston N/A Network Hub utah 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB w/tape 4/98 Thurston WinNT CCMR_GINA user room, replicated ohio 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB 4/98 Thurston Linux Compute server bumble 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB 4/98 Clark Linux User Room, general use Schwarz 333Mhz Pentium II 256MB w/tape 4/98 Clark WinNT CCMR_GINA user room, replicated
Updated: April 6, 1998
Webmaster
| Accomplishments |
| Next Quarter Plans |
| Contacts |
| Equipment Utilization
|
100MB Ethernet network has been installed in our central computer rooms at both the Clark Hall and the Thurston Hall sites. This is helping to relieve the network congestion that having many fast Intel computers can create, and to improve throughput.
Transfer Speed KB/sec Pkt/sec Notes (MB) (sustained) NT-NT R/W 100 1,080 800 (SMB) NT-AFS Read 10/100 771 740 NT-AFS Write 100/10 771 740 NT-AFS Read 10 415 740 AIX-AFS Read 10 402 400 AIX-AFS Write 10 519 740 AIX-AIX R/W 10 771 740 (rcp)
Our first strategy is to make the installation and re-installation of WinNT and application software from scratch to be as simple and rapid a process as possible. We are using Ghost to save and load disk images on our AFS fileserver via Samba.
We are using Transarc Corporation's AFS client for WinNT to leverage our existing AFS-based fileservice, backup, authentication, and administration infrastructure for WinNT. We have purchased and installed NT-AFS for several of the Intel workstations.
We are experimenting with the GINA replacement developed at Notre Dame. The ND_GINA enables WinNT to use AFS Kerberos authentication for login. Roaming profiles are stored in each user's AFS home directory. By executing several scripts at boot time and login/logout time, the ND_GINA also provides an infrastructure for workstation administration. For other GINA projects, see the MIT NT GINA Information Website.
So far, we have modified, built, and installed the ND_GINA. We have tested it enough to demonstrate that authentication, fileserver access, and roaming profiles work. A test workstation supplied by the LASSP project is available to users and is being actively used. Full-scale deployment is awaiting completion of development and implementation of our WinNT installation strategy.
We have developed an installation strategy for Linux on Intel architecture workstations. We are using the MIT AFS client for Linux. Three of the Intel Grant workstations are available as compute servers using the Distributed Queuing System from Florida State University. These compute servers are available to our entire 500 user faculty and graduate student research community. We have also acquired, built, and installed a large selection of data analysis and graphics software for the Linux/Intel platform.
Deploy Windows NT systems via disk replication. Development and implementation of a filesystem/registry lock-down strategy. Expand 100MB Network to include our general user room. Deploy additional systems in the general user room. Test and benchmark UNIX workstation applications under Windows and Linux on Intel platform.
| Faculty
| ||||||||
| Research staff
| ||||||||
| Graduate Students |
| Name | Type | Received | Site | OS | Utilization |
| seven | 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Clark | WinNT | ND_GINA development |
| malcolm | 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Clark | Linux | Compute server; Staff workstation |
| kurn | 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Thurston | Linux | Compute server |
| mogh | 266Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 11/97 | Thurston | Linux | Compute server |
| watson | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Clark | WinNT | ND_GINA testing |
| bob | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Clark | WinNT | Installation testing |
| torres | 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Thurston | WinNT | Waiting for ND_GINA |
| 300Mhz Pentium II 128MB | 1/98 | Thurston | WinNT | Waiting for ND_GINA | |
| dinosaur | 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub | 2/98 | Clark | N/A | Network Hub |
| 510T 24-port 10/100MHz switching hub | 2/98 | Clark | N/A | Network Hub |
|
Last modified on: 10/08/99 |
