High-Performance Computing
High-performance computing (HPC) is the ability to process data and perform complex calculations at high speeds. To put it into perspective, a laptop or desktop with a 3 GHz processor can perform around 3 billion calculations per second. While that is much faster than any human can achieve, it pales in comparison to HPC solutions that can perform quadrillions of calculations per second.
One of the best-known types of HPC solutions is the supercomputer. A supercomputer contains thousands of compute nodes that work together to complete one or more tasks. This is called parallel processing. It’s similar to having thousands of PCs networked together, combining compute power to complete tasks faster.
HPC solutions have three main components:
- Compute
- Network
- Storage
To build a high-performance computing architecture, compute servers are networked together into a cluster. Software programs and algorithms are run simultaneously on the servers in the cluster. The cluster is networked to the data storage to capture the output. Together, these components operate seamlessly to complete a diverse set of tasks.
Link to section 'Compute' of 'High-Performance Computing' Compute
Link to section 'Compute nodes' of 'High-Performance Computing' Compute nodes
A compute node is the place where all the computing is performed. Most of the nodes in a cluster are ordinarily compute nodes. With a specific end goal to give a general arrangement, a compute node can execute one or more tasks, taking into account the scheduling system.
Link to section 'Front-ends' of 'High-Performance Computing' Front-ends
Clusters are complex environments, and administration of each individual segment is essential. The front-end node gives numerous capacities, including: observing the status of individual nodes and issuing orders to individual nodes to execute jobs.
Link to section 'Storage' of 'High-Performance Computing' Storage
Applications that keep running on a cluster, compute nodes must have quick, dependable, and concurrent access to a storage framework. Storage gadgets are specifically joined to the nodes.