Embedded Files
Compute Cluster
EVL has leveraged our DOE 'Blaze' funding (# DE-SC005067) for computational support of CAVE2.
The CAVE2 cluster consists of 36 Display Nodes (one per two tiles), 1 Linux Control Node, 1 Windows Control Node and a Storage Server. The nodes are mounted in three EIA 19" 47U equipment racks in an adjacent air-conditioned machine room.
The racks are organized in four-rows-per-display-column 5U segments, consisting of two Display Nodes (2 x 1U), one Quad-Display Power Module (2U) and one Quad-Display Controller Module (1U). Each rack thus supports six columns utilizing 30U of the 47U available rack space.
2U Storage Server
2U chassis
Dual Intel Xeon E5-2650 2.0GHz 8-cores
128GB Memory
24 x 2.5" Hot-swap SAS/SATA HD bays
SSDs
12 x 480GB Internal SSD Intel
HDDs
12 x 3TB HDD 2.5" Constellation.2
1U Cluster Node
1U chassis
Single Xeon E5-2690 8-core 2.9GHz
64GB RAM
Nvidia GTX 680 2GB RAM
10G dual NIC
SSD 180GB
2TB HDD
5U per column rack config
Configuration
The cluster supports dual-booting of Linux (SUSE) & Windows (Win 7). The linux kernel is booted via PXE from the storage server, mounting local root and NFS storage locations. Network booting ensures each node is kernel version-synchronized with PXE replacing the need for GRUB to control boot device. Windows is installed locally and selectable via the PXE local boot option. The storage server is used as the cluster repository giving us more flexibility in exploring multiple OS use cases and remote dynamic storage models for tiled-display software. The cluster and storage server are interconnected via a 10Gbps network with simultaneous 10Gbps per node connections to outside high-speed networks.
A web-based graphical interface to control booting/OS/application selection, along with display and audio controls is currently implemented on an iPad tablet mounted at the CAVE2 entrance as well as being accessible from any mobile browser.
For configuration details:
iPad App Selection
Operator Console
mode selections
Application Modes
Configuration and application development continuously emerges. CAVE2 currently has multiple modes to support applications. Follow the links for details:
SAGE sagecommons.org
OmegaLib github.com/uic-evl/omegalib
Maps
Windows
Console
CAVE2 has an operators node located just outside the CAVE2 perimeter that includes three interfaces:
Windows PC <ngtracker.evl.uic.edu> Dell XPS, i7 3.4 GHz, 12GB/1TB, Win 7 Enterprise
Vicon Tracker
MotioninJoy Game Pad Tool
This PC is configured for auto login and application start-up. Help files on the Desktop:
Windows Head-Node Console
Linux Head-Node Console
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