HP Scalable Visualization Array Software - Manual (Page 38)

Servers and Client to use the SI. This improves performance. (The ic-name is the HP XC convention
used to denote that the SI communication mode is to be used.)
5. To terminate ParaView, select the File: Exit menu item from the ParaView Console window on your
desktop. Kill the various X Servers on the allocated cluster nodes. You can use the SLURM scancel
command.
Once you complete these steps, ParaView runs on the cluster while you maintain control of the application
from your local desktop. You have a simple version of the image on the ParaView Console window that you
can use to manipulate the image. These changes are displayed simultaneously on the Display Surface you
specified when you allocated the cluster resources.
Data Access
In the specific case of using ParaView, you are likely to want to place the data files where it is convenient
given your site configuration. Because ParaView controls the distribution of the data among the Render
Servers, you typically want to make sure that the data is available on all the nodes allocated as Render
Servers to allow data to load in parallel. One good location for the data is on the local disks of the Render
Server nodes. If you choose to store your data locally, you can copy the data files to the /tmp directories
of all the Render Server nodes.
If you choose to store data locally, you can copy the data file to the display node after the application starts.
This ensures that you access a node allocated to your job. You can also run the launch script interactively
if you plan to use local disk access to the data. When run in interactive mode, the script allocates cluster
resources first. You can then copy the data file to the allocated display node before launching your
visualization application.
Alternatively, NFS and the HP Scalable File Share (SFS) can provide access to the data. Because HP SFS
can provide high-bandwidth access to data over the SI of the SVA, it is recommended if performance is a
high priority.
See the SVA System Administration Guide for general guidelines and alternatives for accessing data files
when running visualization applications on the SVA.
Use of Display Surfaces
The SVA provides the infrastructure and utilities to simplify allocating display devices. The primary mechanism
that you use to set up displays is the Display Surface. A Display Surface is composed of one or more display
nodes and their associated display devices. For example, a simple Display Surface is a specific display
node and an attached flat panel display device. Initial configuration of the SVA sets up a series of default
named Display Surfaces, one for each display node and its directly cabled display device. Any of these
default Display Surfaces work for this example.
Your site administrator must define multi-tile Display Surfaces using the Display Surface Configuration Tool.
The Display Surface Configuration Tool also can list all the named Display Surfaces for the cluster. Entering
specific Display Surfaces to the script to access the display resources of the cluster.
Because this example routes the display output to your local desktop, its display device is the one you use
to manipulate any image. Display output simultaneously appears on the display device in the SVA as
determined by the Display Surface you chose when you started the launch script.
See the SVA System Administration Guide for details on setting up Display Surfaces, display nodes, and
display devices.
Launch Script Template
The SVA Software Kit installs a script template that you can use as a guide to create your own site-specific
script to run ParaView. It is called /opt/sva/samples/sva_paraview.sh. Follow the procedure
described in
“Location for Application Execution and Control” (pg. 36) . Chapter 4 and the SVA Visualization
System Software Reference Guide describe how to use launch templates to run applications, including the
underlying functions and commands contained in the script.
Running a Workstation Application Using a Multi-Tile Display
This section describes how to run a serial workstation application on the SVA using Chromium and DMX.
38 Application Examples