Friday, November 10, 2017

CIS(theta), 2017-2018 November Meeting: PelicanHPC!

CIS(theta), 2017-2018 
November MeetingPelicanHPC!

Yes, I'm afraid it's true, IT replaced all my Linux Boxes with WimpDoze! So we have to find an alternative to installing MPI on native Linux! How do we run MPI under WimpDoze without installing anything?

Enter pelicanHPC as a our first solution! We demoed an old DVD we had to show how to fire up the cluster. Our experiment demonstrated that we could not boot the whole room anymore, as we used to, as PXE Boot or Netboot requires we setup our own DHCP server. When you boot the DVD on one PC, it sets up a DHCP server so all the other PCs can PXE Boot the same OS. However, our new WimpDoze network uses its own DHCP server. These two servers conflict, so we cannot reliably connect all the Worker bees to the Queen bee. We can't setup grid computing or a grid cluster, but we can still setup SMP. In other words, boot up a single PC with the pelicanHPC DVD and run multicore applications on all the cores on that one PC.

So, here's your homework. Download the latest pelicanHPC ISO file and burn your own bootable DVD. Don't worry if your first burn doesn't boot. You can use that DVD as a "Linux Coaster" for your favorite beverage the next time you play on SteamOS. If you can make this work at home, try to run Hello_World_MPI.py from John Burke's sample MPI4PY (MPI for Python) code.

Also, here's our second reading assignment. BTW, I was an editor on this book. That's why I recommend it. It's all about setting up and programming a Linux Cluster aka Super Computer with COWS (Commodity Off-the-shelf Work Stations = ordinary PCs). What's unique about this book is that it uses Java for all its coding samples making it an easy read for anyone who has taken AP CompSci!

NEW DECOR (Display Case):
Featuring ChromeCast & Processing!


NEW DECOR (Room 429):
Featuring Tapestry from RedBubble!

So, what's all this good for aside from making Fractal Zoom or Shrek Movies?
SETI Search
Econometrics
Bioinformatics
Protein Folding
Beal Conjecture
Scientific Computing
Computational Physics
Mersenne Prime Search
Computational Chemistry
Computational Astronomy
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Computer Algebra Systems (CAS)

These are but a few examples of using Computer Science to solve problems in Mathematics and the Sciences (STEAM). In fact, many of these applications fall under the heading of Cluster Programming or Super Computing. These problems typically take too long to process on a single PC, so we need a lot more horse power. Next time, maybe we'll just use Titan!

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Membership (alphabetic by first name):
CIS(theta) 2017-2018:
BrandonB(12), FabbyF(12), JoehanA(12), RusselK(12)

CIS(theta) 2016-2017: 
DanielD(12), JevanyI(12), JuliaL(12), MichaelS(12), YaminiN(12)

CIS(theta) 2015-2016: 
BenR(11), BrandonL(12), DavidZ(12), GabeT(12), HarrisonD(11), HunterS(12), JacksonC(11), SafirT(12), TimL(12)

CIS(theta) 2014-2015: 
BryceB(12), CheyenneC(12), CliffordD(12), DanielP(12), DavidZ(12), GabeT(11), KeyhanV(11), NoelS(12), SafirT(11)

CIS(theta) 2013-2014: 
BryanS(12), CheyenneC(11), DanielG(12), HarineeN(12), RichardH(12), RyanW(12), TatianaR(12), TylerK(12)

CIS(theta) 2012-2013: 
Kyle Seipp(12)

CIS(theta) 2011-2012: 
Graham Smith(12), George Abreu(12), Kenny Krug(12), LucasEager-Leavitt(12)

CIS(theta) 2010-2011: 
David Gonzalez(12), Herbert Kwok(12), Jay Wong(12), Josh Granoff(12), Ryan Hothan(12)

CIS(theta) 2009-2010: 
Arthur Dysart(12), Devin Bramble(12), Jeremy Agostino(12), Steve Beller(12)

CIS(theta) 2008-2009: 
Marc Aldorasi(12), Mitchel Wong(12)

CIS(theta) 2007-2008: 
Chris Rai(12), Frank Kotarski(12), Nathaniel Roman(12)

CIS(theta) 1988-2007: 
A. Jorge Garcia, Gabriel Garcia, James McLurkin, Joe Bernstein, ... too many to mention here!
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Well, that's all folks!
Happy Linux Clustering, 
AJG

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