HECToR

HECToR Phase 3 Upgrade

We are pleased to announce that the Phase 3 upgrade is now ready to commence.

The current Phase 2b (XE6) is contained in 20 cabinets and comprises a total of 464 compute blades. Each blade contains four compute nodes, each with two 12-core AMD Opteron 2.1GHz Magny-Cours processors. This amounts to a total of 44,544 cores. Each 12-core socket is coupled with a Cray Gemini routing and communications chip. Each 12-core processor shares 16Gb of memory.

The Phase 3 system will be contained in 30 cabinets and will comprise of a total of 704 compute blades. Each blade contains four compute nodes, each with two 16-core AMD Opteron 2.3GHz Interlagos processors. This amounts to a total of 90,112 cores. Each 16-core socket is coupled with a Cray Gemini routing and communications chip. Each 16-core processor shares 16Gb of memory.

Preparatory Work

There are a number of preparatory steps required before we can upgrade the processors to Interlagos. Additional maintenance slots have been scheduled for this as below:

Plant Maintenance: Weds 26 Oct 1200-1800

An additional maintenance slot has been arranged to complete some necessary physical works on the cooling infrastructure.

O/S Upgrade: Weds 02 Nov 0900-2400

Prior to the upgrade to Interlagos we are required to upgrade the Operating system to CLE 4.0. Update (28th Oct) - This outage will now run until 2400 Hours in order to accommodate benchmark tests by the NAG CSE Team in preparation for Phase3 acceptance testing.

Main Interlagos Upgrade Timeline

The upgrade to Interlagos processors from Magny-Cours will take place in two parts, and will require 3 maintenance sessions. During the first part half the current number of Magny-Cours processors will be available to users (896 nodes; 21,504 cores). During the second part, twenty cabinets of newly installed Interlagos processors will be available (1856 nodes, 59,392 cores). Finally, HECToR will be returned as a 30 cabinet Interlagos system (2816 nodes, 90,112 cores).

This timeline will be updated as and when there are any changes to the plan. We will notify users as soon as possible if the dates below are expected to change.

Outage 1: Mon 07 Nov 0900-1700

HECToR will be restored at 50% capacity e.g. a 10-cabinet Magny-Cours system.

Outage 2: Weds 9 Nov 0900 - Friday 11 Nov 0900

HECToR will be restored as a 20-cabinet Interlagos system.

At this stage user accounting will be disabled. Jobs will be recorded but you will not be charged. Accounting will remain disabled until such time that the acceptance testing is completed (estimated early December).

Change as at 0900 Hrs Friday 11th Nov

HECToR has been returned as a 10 cabinet Magny Cours system while testing continues on Interlagos. A revised timeline will be issued.

Outage 3: Weds 16 Nov 0900 - Thurs 17 Nov 0900

HECToR will be restored as a 30 cabinet Interlagos system. User accounting remains disabled at this stage. Acceptance and availability testing is scheduled for late November/early December.

Preparing for Interlagos

Details for preparing for Interlagos will be published at a later date.

Any users requiring assistance should contact the HECToR Helpdesk.