Computational Cluster Programs

Computing on the Hoffman2 Cluster

The preferred way to access the Hoffman2 Cluster is through the UCLA Grid Portal at http://grid.ucla.edu. The grid portal makes the Hoffman2 Cluster accessible from any web browser. You can submit batch jobs, run interactive GUI applications and get an xterm from the UCLA Grid Portal. If you are going to use the Hoffman2 Cluster from the UCLA Grid Portal, to use batch or interactive services (except for xterm) you will not need to know the information presented here.

Role of the Head Nodes

Use the Hoffman2 head nodes for logging into the Hoffman2 Cluster.

You may do the following when logged onto a Hoffman2 Cluster head node:

File management
Editing
Compile programs (from source code)
Start up ATS-supplied interactive application such as: Matlab, Maple, etc.

Do not Compute on the Head Nodes

Do not run any your own applications, or any applications other than ATS-supplied applications on a Hoffman2 Cluster head node. The load average on the head nodes is continously monitored and any user processes that is contributing significantly to the load average is terminated without notice.

Run Interactive Programs on the Interactive Nodes

There are 2 interactive nodes that are provided for software development, debugging and the running of interactive applications. They are named i01 and i02 and can be accessed from the head node using the commands:

ssh i01

and

ssh i02

Do debug your programs and run your own interactive applications on the interactive nodes. However note that, any program that requires more than 1 hour to complete and which does not require considerable human interaction must be submitted to a batch job queue.

Batch Jobs

Most of the nodes on the Hoffman2 Cluster are dedicated to running batch jobs.

All non-interactive programs that require more than 1 hour to complete must be submitted as batch jobs.