HP Scalable Visualization Array Software - Manual (Page 25)

3 SVA Hardware and Software
This chapter provides information on the hardware and software that make up the SVA. It is a
useful reference for anyone involved in managing the SVA. It is also useful for anyone who
wants to understand the hardware that makes up the SVA and the software that is installed on
it.
The SVA combines commodity hardware components with software that include the following:
•
A cluster of Intel EM64T or AMD-64 Opteron HP workstations and servers as visualization
nodes.
• A range of graphics cards that varies by workstation or server: NVIDIA® Quadro® FX 1500
(DL140 G3, DL145 G3), NVIDIA Quadro FX 3450 (xw8200, xw9300), NVIDIA Quadro FX
3500 (xw8400, xw9400, DL140 G3, DL145 G3), NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 with optional G-sync
or hardware SLI (xw8200, xw8400, xw9300, xw9400), or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 with
optional G-sync or hardware SLI (xw8400, xw9400).
• InfiniBand, Gigabit Ethernet (GigE), or Myrinet system interconnects.
• Third-party software tools and libraries.
• Custom and enhanced software tools.
3.1 Hardware Component Summary
You can use the SVA with a variety of applications that run on distributed computing systems;
in this case, a cluster of Linux workstations. The SVA is a specialized version of the HP Cluster
Platform systems.
There are two SVA physical configurations:
Bounded Configuration
Contains only visualization nodes and is limited in size to
four to seventeen workstations plus a workstation or server
head node. This configuration is based on racked
component building blocks, namely the Utility
Visualization Block (UVB) and the Visualization Building
Block (VBB).
The bounded configuration serves as a standalone
visualization cluster and is not integrated with compute
nodes. The bounded configuration meets the need for
relatively small, personal use clusters consisting of only
four workstations. When expanded to seventeen nodes,
such a cluster can be a visualization-specific, multi-user
system capable of driving a large display wall. Although
designed as a standalone cluster, it can be connected to a
larger HP XC cluster using external GigE connections. This
level of inter-cluster integration supports communication
with a compute cluster and data retrieval from a file share,
such as an HP Scalable File Share (SFS).
Modular Packaging Configuration This configuration has two or more racks as needed to
contain from four to ninety-five workstations or servers,
along with a server head node. All servers and
workstations must have the same CPU type (EM64T or
Opteron). This configuration is based on HP Cluster
Platform building blocks, namely the Visualization
Building Block (VBB) and the Utility Building Block (UBB).
It can be exclusively visualization nodes or be combined
with compute nodes as part of an integrated HP Cluster
Platform system. When integrated into a larger Cluster
3.1 Hardware Component Summary 25