About UniCluster Express
UniCluster Express 3.2 is open source cluster management software that integrates best-of-breed open source technologies to provide everything one needs to run technical and advanced computing applications on a cluster.
- Read about the anatomy of a cluster software stack
- Understand why clusters are a good choice for HPC
- Learn how to recognize a cluster application when you see one
Components
Cluster Express integrates components like Globus and Grid Engine into a single open source software tool:
- Installer: UniCluster Express 3.2 provides an integrated installer that delivers the complete set of cluster stack components in a single, easy process.
- Job Scheduling: UniCluster Express 3.2 includes job management via Grid Engine, a widely deployed open source scheduler that features powerful and configurable, policy-based resource allocation, and useful defaults out of the box.
- Monitoring: In addition to job monitoring via Grid Engine, UniCluster Express includes real-time system-level monitoring based on Ganglia, a scalable distributed monitoring system for efficiently collecting system-level information (such as CPU load averages, memory utilization, and I/O rates) from all machines comprising the cluster. Cluster Express also adds a Monitoring Console -- a GUI tool with remote WAN accessibility for integrated monitoring of job-level and system-level information on the cluster.
- Data Management: UniCluster Express provides integrated components for efficiently and reliably managing distributed data. UniCluster Express's data management tools include Globus GridFTP, a high-performance, secure, reliable data transfer protocol optimized for high-bandwidth wide-area networks, and Globus Reliable File Transfer (RFT), a Web service that reliably manages file transfers and tracks data transfer status.
- Security: UniCluster Express includes standards-based Globus Grid Security Infrastructure (GSI) based on mature, widely used open source security software such as OpenSSL. This security infrastructure is cleanly integrated with local cluster security (e.g. NIS) to protect your cluster, applications and data with robust yet easy to manage and use host and user security.
- Grid Services: UniCluster Express utilizes open source Globus software components for building robust, secure grid systems and applications. Proven in production and operating some of the largest clusters and grids on the planet, Globus is the framework for the UniCluster Express’ remote access and federation services and includes GridFTP, Reliable File Transfer (RFT), WS-GRAM, MyProxy and GSI-OpenSSH.
Why UniCluster Express?
UniCluster Express is the open source alternative to traditional proprietary/commercial cluster software. UniCluster Express goes beyond the bounds of these traditional tools to provide integrated installation of multiple components, monitoring and analytics capabilities, and support available both through Grid.org and Univa UD.
