Table of Contents
The Aeolus cluster is managed following an enhanced community condominium model. Investors (individual researchers or groups of affiliated researchers) purchase compute nodes (or storage) from a catalogue of nodes (and storage options). For a further in-depth description, please see the Investment Policy.
At this time all investments are directly based on full systems or parts to the cluster. The VCEA HPC Governance Committee is exploring options with the university to operate under a service center and charge costs based on either resources utilized (compute, ram, storage) or simply nodes & storage needs.
We will work to keep all information open and updated for the benefit of the community. Please contact us if you become aware of an update we haven’t published.
The Aeolus HPC computing environment is designed with faculty oversight to accommodate the unique computing needs of research computing. Providing a very small glimpse at the potential arrays of options configurable compute nodes in Aeolus, we compared the costs to similar compute nodes on Kamiak.
| HPC Environment | Processor(s) | Memory (GB) | Budgetary Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeolus | 2 x Intel Xeon Silver 4116 | 192 | $9,450.00 |
| Kamiak | 2 x Intel Xeon Silver 4116 | 192 | $10,300 |
| Aeolus | 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6138 | 384 | $16,050.00 |
| Kamiak | 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6138 | 384 | $17,000 |
With this comparison in mind, all investors will be presented with an opportunity to optimize investments to get the best value per core, GHz, and GB of RAM.
Our systems staff have looked into the possible cost of outsourcing compute to the “cloud,” however the cost per CPU Core/GHz and GB of RAM was consistently around ten (10) times the cost of hardware invested solutions.
Having looked at and tested multiple storage solutions, we’ve worked to provide an updated and stable environment for HPC storage. We’ve further analyzed the cost of purchasing storage in multiple locations on WSU Campus.
As the storage in Aeolus grows, the overall cost/TB will decrease. Based on the investment policies, the prices shown will be updated to represent the new costs for storage. To understand the storage Tiers, see the Investment Policy.
| HPC Environment | Storage Type | Term in Years | Cost/TB/yr Usable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aeolus | Tier 1 | 1-5 | $75.00 | with backups |
| Kamiak | Tier 1 | 1 | $112.00 | no backups |
| Aeolus | Tier 2 | 1-5 | $50.00 | with backups |
| CAHNRS | Tier 2 | 1 | $75.78 | with backups |
To be written …