[Beowulf] Definition of HPC

[Herbert Fruchtl]

>> >
>> >"Owned compute" has some advantages over "rented compute."  In general, the
>> >control one has over one's owned resources enables applications to run with
>> >greater performance.  Some optimizations just demand root access!
>> >
> As someone who has been Scientific Computing/HPC System Admin, I can
> tell you this is a complete myth.

You need at least access to the person with root access. If (s)he's a colleague 
who needs to keep 10 more users in the department happy, you can sit down and 
find a solution if your program doesn't work. Try to convince Amazon that you 
need SHMMAX increased, and that their default processor affinity settings slow 
your code down.

   Herbert
-- 
Herbert Fruchtl
Senior Scientific Computing Officer
School of Chemistry, School of Mathematics and Statistics
University of St Andrews
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The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland:
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