Center for Computational Research at the University of ... · there are small clusters and then...
Transcript of Center for Computational Research at the University of ... · there are small clusters and then...
That’s RefreshingDell Asset Recovery Services supports the research endeavors at the Center for Computational Research by helping to make a cluster upgrade easy and economically attractive
J ust as there are clusters of stars and then there are galaxies, in the universe of computing
there are small clusters and then there are Milky Way–sized clusters that support data-
intensive research. The Center for Computational Research at the University at Buffalo,
State University of New York, runs a galactic-scale cluster with a life-saving higher calling. Founded
in 1998, the Center for Computational Research operates within the New York State Center of
Excellence in Bioinformatics and the Life Sciences. The Center of Excellence, which is comprised of
the University at Buffalo, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and the Hauptman-Woodward Medical
Research Institute, pursues a tri-fold mission. First, it strives to facilitate research and scholarship
through the use of bioinformatics technology. Second, the Center works to develop treatments and
cures for diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. Lastly, the Center serves as
an economic catalyst for the Western New York region by working with local and national biotech
companies to further business development and boost the local economy.
To help fulfill its mission, the Center for Computational Research runs a large compute cluster that
must be able to support a variety of diverse applications and workloads. “I like to tell people that
we are a full-service computing center,” explains Furlani, director of the center for computational
research. “We support all sorts of computation—from fluid dynamics to chemistry to medical
CUSTOMER OVERVIEW
The Center for Computational Research at
the University of Buffalo, State University of
New York, supports research and scholarship
with the help of super computing resources
to provide education, outreach, training,
and technology transfer to local industries
requiring high-end computing.www.ccr.buffalo.edu
CHALLENGE
Before the center could augment its existing
800-node cluster with 512 additional nodes,
it had to remove and remarket 2,300 used
high-performance servers in preparation for
the upgrade
SOLUTION
Dell Asset Recovery Services (ARS) cus-
tomized a solution for the rapid, easy, and
secure recovery—and timely resale—of
2,300 used servers and related equipment
BENEFIT
By devising a way for the servers to remain
in their racks during the de-installation
process, Dell ARS helped ensure as little
downtime and inconvenience for the customer
as possible; in the process, Dell ARS also
provided extremely high levels of data
security and environmental compliance
CenterforComputationalResearchattheUniversityofBuffalo,StateUniversityofNewYork Education
backup/recovery/archiving n clustering n consolidation n database n management/utilities n messaging n virtualiZation n
imaging. Plus, we support research in data mining, including analyzing
retail shopping trends. And we render animation. So, needless to say, we
run a variety of applications on the cluster. In addition to the computa-
tional resources, our support staff also provides software engineering,
database administration, scientific computing, and visualization support
to researchers throughout the university.”
Expanding research necessitates a cluster upgradeFor the past several years, the Center for Computional Research used a
high-bandwidth cluster built around Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers to crunch
data for its many workloads, but as life sciences research assumed
increasing importance, the center began to investigate expanding the
cluster. “As we discovered, much of life sciences research does not
involve large parallel jobs where a single big problem is solved by multiple
processors working simultaneously,” explains Furlani. “Instead, many of
the applications in life sciences run effectively on only one or few
processors but are RAM- or disk-intensive. It is a bit of overkill to utilize a
large cluster with a high-bandwidth interconnect to solve these types of
problems. We didn’t want to tie up the resources of our high-bandwidth
cluster unnecessarily, but we still needed to address the research needs
of this important segment of our customer base, so we began evaluating
new potential cluster solutions.”
Ultimately, the Center for Computational Research decided to upgrade
the cluster and the PowerEdge servers that comprise it. “We made the
decision to add to the existing system and to replace some of the old,
off-warranty servers,” explains Furlani. “Recently, we installed 256
dual-processor Dell PowerEdge SC1425 servers. The additional 512
processors do not use a high-bandwidth interconnect, but rather utilize
a standard Gigabit Ethernet interconnect. In addition to sequential jobs,
this interconnect is fine for many of our small 2–16 processor jobs. An
added advantage is that the cost savings realized by going with a Gigabit
Ethernet interconnect can be used to purchase additional compute
nodes, thereby increasing the overall computing capacity we can
provide our users. The new 256-node cluster was merged with the older
800-node high-bandwidth cluster to form a single large cluster that is
designed to meet the computing needs of the center’s researchers and
business partners.”
As a consequence of the decision to install new PowerEdge servers, the
Center for Computational Research needed to remove and remarket 2,300
used high-performance servers in preparation for the upgrade. Furthermore,
the removal of the old equipment needed to be seamless—creating little
disruption to ongoing research. And the Center for Computational Research
wanted to maximize the value it received in return for its used servers.
Dell Asset Recovery Services offers easy disposition of used IT equipmentIn order to meet the needs of the Center for Computational Research, Dell
ARS designed a customized solution that delivered the rapid, easy, and
secure recovery of 2,300 servers. All told, Dell ARS made four pickups of
about 60 racks per pickup, utilizing 79 custom-made pallets to recover the
2,300 servers. The solution allowed the servers to remain in their racks
while they were rolled into a convenient loading area, screwed into the
custom-made pallets, and surrounded in foam—helping to ensure maxi-
mum protection of the assets for a high resale value.
The custom nature of the recovery helped ensure an easy and problem-
free upgrade for the Center for Computational Research. “At some point,
the old equipment doesn’t have that much value in terms of computing
throughput,” Furlani explains. “So what do you do? Dell Asset Recovery
Services makes a very compelling case for trading in the old servers for
new equipment. That solves two problems for us: it helps get rid of the
old equipment in a cost-effective way, and it allows us to get new, faster
equipment that is under warranty.”
Dell ARS delivers data security and environmental complianceAside from the custom nature of the Center for Computational Research
recovery, Dell ARS engagements appeal to customers because Dell ARS
solutions feature intense data-security protection. During the engage-
ments, all systems are prepared for remarketing or recycling through a
closed-loop batch process, meaning that the systems are tracked and
reconciled one customer at a time throughout the entire process. In
addition, Dell ARS ensures hard drive data is destroyed by performing
a three-pass hard drive overwrite in accordance with U.S. Department
of Defense standard 5220.22M. Going a step further, Dell ARS performs
dellassetrecoveryservicesmakesaverycompellingcasefortradingintheoldserversfornewequipment.thatsolvestwoproblemsforus:ithelpsgetridoftheoldequipmentinacost-effectiveway,anditallowsustogetnew,fasterequipmentthatisunderwarranty.”
— Tom Furlani, Director at the Center for Computational Research, SUNY
HOW IT WORkS
HARDWARE
Dell™ PowerEdge™ SC1425 servers with 64-bit Intel®
Xeon® processors
SERVICES
Dell Asset Recovery Services
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sector verification of the hard-drive wipe to further confirm all data
removal was successful.
Dell ARS also complies with all local, state, and federal environmental
regulations and strives to achieve peak environmental stewardship in the
recycling industry. Dell ARS maintains a zero landfill policy—meaning that
all equipment that is unable to be resold is broken down into component
parts and re-distributed back into the primary materials manufacturing
market. Dell ARS also holds to a zero trash export policy, so no equipment
ends up in landfills inside or outside the United States. And Dell ARS
delivers five-layer auditing of recycled material to ensure partner adherence
with its commitments to environmental responsibility.
The Center for Computational Research enjoys a big windfallFor the Center for Computational Research, the benefits of the Dell ARS
approach to asset recovery are many. Because the center didn’t want to
incur additional de-installation costs, Dell designed a customized process
that allowed the center’s staff to roll the servers in their racks directly
onto custom-built pallets. Due to Dell’s global reach and impressive
resources, Dell ARS was able to scale its logistics to pick up 79 server
racks in only four visits—thereby minimizing customer oversight hassles
and downtime.
The Center for Computational Research is not alone in enjoying
the benefits of Dell ARS. A 2006 survey of customers confirms a 93
percent satisfaction level with Dell ARS, as well as the fact that 99
percent of Dell ARS customers plan to repurchase the services.
While listening to the voice and needs of its customers helps set Dell
ARS apart from the competition, from a customer perspective, the
financial benefits Dell ARS delivers are probably even more persuasive.
To wit: Dell was able to identify buyers for the 2,300 servers and related
equipment, defraying US$600,000 of the cost of the new cluster for the
Center for Computational Research. “Dell ARS helped us get rid of our old
equipment, which was out of warranty and had a diminished computing
throughput, and the financial benefits of using the services allow us to
expand our cluster with faster, more energy-efficient nodes,” Furlani
concludes. “That helps us provide even more compute power for vital
medical research and local business purposes at a lower operating cost.”
November 2006
Printed in the U.S.A.
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