Rosen Center for Advanced Computing
Frequently Asked Questions
Community Cluster Subscription Model
General Questions
What is the purpose of the community cluster subscription model?
The Community Cluster Subscription program is designed to provide computational infrastructure without the need for the faculty member to worry about hardware or security issues. The subscription program costs are similar to purchasing the equipment independently, plus the “peace of mind” and the savings from not needing to worry about working with vendors, hardware repair or security patches.
What are the key advantages of the Community Cluster subscription model?
There are four keys advantages to the subscription model:
• Rapid availability – computational infrastructure can be made available very quickly after completing the service level agreement and arrangements with the business office.
• Continually increasing computational power – the community clusters are upgraded regularly without spending extra money.
• Fixed pricing for the term of the agreement – your charges do not change during the lifetime of the agreement. The fixed price allows you to better manage your budget.
• More computation per dollar through group purchasing – due to our larger purchasing power, our pricing is typically better than one can obtain independently.
How is the rapid availability provided?
RCAC purchases a limited number of nodes for surge computational capacity. The surge capacity allows RCAC to:
• Pull computational nodes from the cluster for repair while maintaining the appropriate availability for all subscribers
• Allocate subscription nodes to new users while additional equipment is being ordered.
How frequently is the equipment in the subscription cluster upgraded?
The subscription-based community cluster is upgraded approximately every three years. Since new equipment is being added on a regular basis, the average age of the equipment is expected to be less than two years.
What is the cost to subscribe to the cluster?
The costs have not yet been determined but we expect to have rates approved in early 2008. Once approved, we will post the rates to the RCAC website.
How can I find out more information?
Please send email to rcac-info@purdue.edu .
Last Updated 12/06/07