Next steps

• Meet to review all options and confirm desired direction and expected timing.
• Review resources. Xiao-Qiu Ye has cluster experience, including set-up.

Draft idea

High-level overview

• Create a stand-along cluster using new hardware ($25K).
  • Uses new OS and related cluster management software.
  • Install and configure necessary applications.
  • Enable NetID-based access, if possible (limit 2-3 days for a "go/no-go" decision on this functionality)
• Confirm old nodes can successfully be added to that new cluster.
• Migrate users to new cluster.
• Migrate old nodes to new cluster.

Unknowns

• Time for install of all necessary applications, many of which are new to Lulu.
• Whether NetID-based access will succeed. But note that this is not a do-or-die step.

Tasks and estimated timing

Vet options and conduct needs analysis to match to hardware order

• 1-2 weeks

Specify exactly the systems to order within budget. Includes iterating with vendor experts.

• 1 week

Place order

• 1/2 week

Delivery, after order is placed at Cornell

• ~3 weeks

Receiving order and set-up in 248 Baker Lab

• 1 week

Get head node and 1st cluster node operational with OS and cluster management software

• 3 weeks
• Lulu becomes available ~mid-September?

See unknowns, above, which related to tasks which will obviously take additional time to accomplish.

Other ideas

• Rent from CAC.
  • Walk through rates and scenarios.
  • 12 cores available at any one time.
  • $400 buys you 8585 core*hours, which is ~1 core for an entire year, non-stop.
  • For 96 cores, that's $38.4K for 1 year, non-stop.
    • 96 = 8 nodes, each with dual 6-core procs => 8 * 12 = 96