Editors Note, 7/30/2014:
This was an early post on our CUBE systems, we have since updated and improved our offering. Visit www.padtinc.com/cube to get the latest information.
Most of you should have received an e-mail blast yesterday announcing that PADT is now selling a line computer systems that are configured specifically for CFD and FEA users. Our CUBE High Value Performance Computers became a product line when a couple of customers asked us about the hardware we ran on and if they could get the same from us. After doing a couple of systems this way we decided to go mainstream.
You can read our announcement here:
And you can download a brochure here:
[Replaced]
We also have a new website with more details:
Give us a call (480.813.4884) or send an e-mail (info@padtinc.com) if you need more information or have questions.
What is PADT Up To?
Since The Focus is kind of an engineer-to-engineer exchange, we thought we would use this weeks posting to give the hard core users out there some details on these systems and some things everyone should know.
The thing we want to point out first is that these are not super-fast high performance systems.These are based on the new AMD chips which are fast per cycle, but run at a lower clock speed. You would need the latest Intel Nahelem chips for maximum performance. What they are is a balance between speed and price. As an example, you can go to the Dell website and configure a 3.0 GHz Intel based system with 8 cores that is as close to the CUBE w12 (12 core) system for about $9,800. the w12 is $5,800. that is 68% more expensive than the Intel based system for maybe a 40% speed increase. And, if you have enough parallel licenses, it may be about the same speed 12 AMD cores vs. 8 Intel cores. That is the kind of tradeoff we look at when configuring these systems. If you need more than 8 cores then the price difference really gets big.
That is one way we get the price down. The other is by cutting back on two big price drivers for someone selling computers: service and inventory. We just don’t cut back, we pretty much cut it out. When you buy a system we order the parts to build it. This saves us a ton on inventory and we pass that on to you. We did this because in reality, you really don’t need it tomorrow. In fact, it will probably take 3-4 weeks just to get buy-in from your management. So way then pay a lot of money to get the machine in 2-3 days when you already waited 3-4 weeks?
We really cut back on support. We test your system here with your software and then ship it off. You get 8 hours of phone support and a 1 year parts only warranty. After that, you have to pay for time or parts. We did this because in the years we have been running computers for simulation, we never use the service and we almost never have a bad part we need replaced after one year. sometimes you get a bad part right out of the box, but if it lasts a year, it will last till it is out of date.
So, in a nutshell, we are trying to find a sweet spot for users where, for a reasonable amount of money, they can get a reasonable amount of throughput.
Some Highlights
Portable Mini Cluster – 96 Cores, Two Boxes, 256 GB of RAM: $43,250
One cool thing to point out about our 96 core system is that we built it to be portable. We felt that if someone needed that much horsepower they probably wanted to share it. So we build it into its own rack that we put on wheels. We also add two UPS’s to provide battery backup power. So if you need to unplug it and roll it down the hallway, go for it. This also makes these systems perfect for use in security areas where you need to wheel a box around between closed secure rooms as needed. When you get done with a project, pull the drives and wheel it to the next project.
Another cool thing about this system is that it uses a special Infiniband interconnect that does not require a switch when you connect only two systems. This saves a few thousand dollars.
The “Sweet Spot” – 32 Cores, 128 GB of RAM, $12,300
We feel that the best deal in the CUBE line is the 32 core system. Not so much because of the hardware but more because of the ANSYS HPC license packs. If you buy two packs, you get the ability to two jobs on 8 cores each or one job on 32 cores. It also comes with enough RAM to handle bigger problems (128GB) at a great price. Even if you add some bells and whistles it should still be under $15,000. You need to run the numbers but most users will be able to purchase a CUBE w32 and two HPC packs for about the same or less than two 8 cores systems, an interconnect, and 16 parallel tasks, and still run faster.
What To Do with all Those Dang Files! – The 10TB Fileserver
We configured this system after a customer that bought a 96 core system from us told us that they were paying something like $20k for a fancy file storage device. Now granted, this is a very fast I/O machine with software and hardware that lets you write files to it during a run. But honestly, why do that? Why not just put 1-3 TB on your compute server or mini-cluster and then get a cheap box with a bunch of inexpensive disk drive on it. Run on the fast machine and when you get done, copy your files to the inexpensive file server. Our pre-configured FS10 has 10GB of disk space for $5,000.
But that only solves one problem: what to do with those big files when you need to keep them around. What do you do for long term storage? At PADT we use these external hard drive docking stations (eSTAT Drive Bay) and we go out and buy standard 1TB hard drives. We plug those guys in, copy our files to the hard drive, unplug it, label the drive, and throw it in a drawer. To be safe, we often make two copies of the files and actually put one in a fire safe. The fs10 comes with an external eSATA Dual Drive bay to solve your long term archiving problems in a simple and cost effective way.
Bottom Line
So, is a CUBE HVPC system right for you? You need to decide if giving up some speed, support and delivery time is worth the savings. Also, is a system designed for CFD and FEA a better fit, vs. a database server that they label as an HPC machine. The best way is to contact us, and we’ll help answer those questions.
Not the most exciting The Focus posting, but we think you will agree that this approach to computing can be very efficient, so we thought we would share it with you.
