This is the October 2003 newsletter of the ITC Research Computing Support Group. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information presented here, please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Group via e-mail to res-consult@virginia.edu, or at the Research Computing Support Center (RCSC), 244 Wilson Hall, 243-8800. The RCSC is open 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.
Software and Hardware..........
ITC currently has an IBM p640 Model B80 Symmetric Multi-Processor (SMP) serving as one of the nodes of the IBM SP cluster to run jobs in the LoadLeveler 'huge' class. This computer (mp1.unix) will be down from 8:00 AM October 8 and should be returned to service by Friday morning, October 10. This downtime is necessary to change its configuration in preparation for the retirement of the IBM SP on December 15, 2003. We apologize for any inconvenience this downtime might cause.
This SMP node of the SP will be removed from the IBM SP on Wednesday, October 8, at 8:00 and be upgraded to AIX 5.1 and to use PBSPro, the same batch queuing system used on ITC's Linux clusters. Any Loadleveler jobs running on the SMP node of the SP (mp1.unix) will be terminated at that time. We hope that by giving a week's notice of this downtime that no jobs will be submitted that will not complete before the downtime. Loadleveler jobs running on all other nodes of the SP will be unaffected.
The upgraded IBM SMP should be returned to use on Friday, October 10. We will have prepared information on how to use the reconfigured IBM SMP high performance platform at:
http://www.itc.Virginia.EDU/research/ibm-smp
This system is intended as bridge system for those researchers whose local computational needs in software or compiler libraries are tied to AIX as well as those who need to run large memory jobs formerly run in the 'huge' class on the SP.
Further information concerning the impending retirement of the IBM SP can be found on the webpage:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/news/newsletterSep03.html#sp
Questions regarding the downtime and reconfiguration of the IBM SMP should be directed to the ITC Research Computing Support Center by either e-mailing res-consult@virginia.edu or calling 243-8800.
On Tuesday, October 14, 2003, at 6:30 AM, the Home Directory Service (HDS) servers, home1.Virginia.EDU and home2.Virginia.EDU, will be down for about 15 minutes for a software upgrade.
Microsoft Windows users will be disconnected from the HDS, but most will reconnect automatically when the HDS servers come back up.
Most ITC Unix systems that use the HDS will not allow you to login during the downtime. Jobs running on these Unix systems may suspend and resume after the downtime. These ITC Unix systems include:
Blue Cluster (blue.unix.Virginia.EDU, unix.mail.Virginia.EDU)
ITC Unix Lab (eg, sun-1.unixlab.Virginia.EDU, sgi-1.unixlab.Virginia.EDU, orange1.unix.Virginia.EDU)
ITC High Performance Computing (eg, HPC Linux Clusters aspen.itc.Virginia.EDU and birch.itc.Virginia.EDU)
SP2, splogin.sp2.Virginia.EDU, o200-1.sp2.Virginia.EDU,
crick.med.Virginia.EDU
(This is not a complete list)
The following will not be available during the downtime:
This planned downtime is necessary in order to improve and enhance our services to the University community. ITC apologizes for any inconvenience.
ITC Unix Systems
The Aspen cluster (lc0.itc, aspen.itc) will be taken down on Wednesday, October 15, at 8:00 AM for one day to add disk to the system. While we hope that the upgrade can be completed in one day, we hope it will be less. All running jobs will be stopped at the time of the upgrade. Users should plan ahead to be sure that their jobs are finished before Wednesday, October 15, at 8:00 AM.
We apologize for any inconvenience this downtime might cause. If you have any questions or concerns about it, please contact the ITC Research Computing Support Center by telephoning 243-8800 or e-mailing Res-Consult@Virginia.EDU
Researchers can propose complex theories of how and why variables might affect each other, and use the tools available in Amos to verify whether the data supports their proposed models. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a holistic approach to modeling complex dependencies among unobserved or hypothetical variables, such as perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. With SEM, any variable can serve as a predictor of any other variable, whether it is observed or hypothesized. By simultaneously evaluating dependencies among variables, SEM extends traditional modeling techniques by providing additional insight into the underlying nature of relationships.
Amos provides simple drawing tools to quickly specify, view and modify complex models, as well as to assess model fit. Unlike traditional SEM programs, Amos does not require users to type commands. Instead, users simply drag and drop variables into a path diagram, in order to specify, estimate, assess and present their models.
Visit U.Va.'s Amos Web page at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/amos/ for more information.
The IBM SP will be retired from service at the end of the fall semester, December 15, 2003. The IBM SP has reached the end of its life cycle. It is no longer cost-effective to keep such old hardware in reliable service to support your research.
Two years ago, the faculty Research Computing Task Force recommended that ITC begin acquiring new, state-of-the-art computing platforms to serve as replacements to the IBM SP. (See the Final Report of March 2001 posted at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/rctf/.) ITC has done so over the last two years and the time has come to turn off the aged IBM SP.
The ITC Research Computing Support Group wants to insure that all users of the SP have migrated their code to newer High Performance Computing platforms well before December 15, 2003. There are several computing platforms to which you can migrate. These include two High Performance Computing Linux clusters, one with 64 nodes each with 1 GB of memory and 2 CPUs and one with 32 nodes each with 2 GB of memory and 2 CPUs. Details of these two clusters, including how to get started using them are available on the following Web pages:
http://www.itc.Virginia.EDU/research/linux-cluster/aspen/
http://www.itc.Virginia.EDU/research/linux-cluster/birch/
In addition, we have an IBM p640 Model B80 Symmetric Multi-Processor (SMP) computer. It has four 450 MHz Power3 II Processors, and 12 GB of total memory that is available to any processor. This system is intended as bridge system for those researchers whose local computational needs in software or libraries are tied to AIX. Currently it is accessed via the splogin as "huge class" of LoadLeveller; however, by the fall semester, it will be available as a separate computing platform using the same batch queuing system as the HPC Linux Clusters, PBSPro.
For some runs with less demanding memory requirements and no more than a one-hour CPU run time, the existing blue.unix AIX cluster may also be a suitable host system.
ITC's Research Computing Support group is available to assist you with this migration. We can help you determine the most appropriate platform for your computing work as well as answer questions or concerns during your migration. We encourage you to contact us by e-mailing us at Res-Consult@Virginia.EDU or calling the ITC Research Computing Support Center at 243-8800.
The ITC Research Computing Support Group is presenting a series of talks that provide an overview of the computer resources available at U.Va. The aim of these talks is to provide researchers, as well as anyone at U.Va., with an overview and details about ITC computing resources that may help you to get a quicker start on your research and do your computing more efficiently.
You will also be able to pick up copies of software distributed by the ITC Research Computing Support Group such as SAS, Matlab, IDL, etc. after each talk.
Each talk is an independent session, just attend the talks that are of interest to you. Each talk starts at 3:30 in the Research Computing Support Center (RCSC), 244 Wilson, and will last 60 to 75 minutes. The schedule is:
- Wednesday, October 8: Using Matlab Effectively (presented by Ed Hall)
Matlab integrates mathematical computing, visualization, and a powerful language to provide a flexible environment for technical computing. This talk will provide a brief overview of Matlab 6.5 and then focus on maximizing the performance of Matlab programs as well as using the Matlab compiler. For further information, see the Web page at http://www.itc.Virginia.EDU/research/matlab/.- Wednesday, October 22: Introduction to Maple 9.0 (presented by Kathy Gerber)
Maple is a powerful analytic computation system with over 3500 high-level math functions, an extendible math programming language, 2-D and 3-D visualization, and easy publication to common formats such as HTML and LaTeX. An overview of Maple 9's new features may be viewed at http://www.maplesoft.com/products/maple/new/. This talk explores some of these new features in more depth.
- Wednesday, November 5: Getting Started with High Performance Computing: Tools & Tricks (presented by Katherine Holcomb)
This talk is an introduction to using the High-Performance Computing (HPC) platforms at UVa. The colloquium will provide a demonstration of using the Linux High Performance Cluster, Aspen, including compiling a program with "make", submitting a job, and file management.- Wednesday, November 12: Introduction to Mathematica 5.0 (presented by Ed Hall)
Mathematica seamlessly integrates a numeric and symbolic computational engine, graphics system, programming language, and documentation system. This talk will provide a brief overview of Mathematica and then focus on the new features in Mathematica 5.0. For further information, see the Web page at http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/newin5/.
If you have any questions about these talks, please contact us at: res-consult@virginia.edu
or 243-8800.
This item updated 10/28/03 (tft8g)
The Research Computing Support Center can teach introductory workshops on SAS, SPSS, and S-PLUS statistical packages, as well as any of the other research software supported by ITC.
The scheduled workshops for these three statistical packages have already occurred for this fall semester. However, we are available to teach the workshop, or some component of it, if there are several people interested in taking the workshop. We can tailor it to your group's specific needs.
For example, if you are an instructor, we could tailor an introductory workshop to your class's needs. Please e-mail res-consult@virginia.edu or call the Research Computing Support Center at 243-8800.
The workshop notes and example files are available on the Web, from their respective Web pages:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/sas/training/
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/spss/training/
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/splus/training/
SGI and James River Technical, SGI's exclusive education reseller partner, in our continuing effort to support a very important customer, are bringing a valuable technical overview of the latest computational and visualization solutions available for scientific computing to the University of Virginia.
If you're involved in high-end research computing and/or visualization, you will want to take advantage of an opportunity to learn more about some exciting new developments from SGI, the leading provider of high-end technology solutions to researchers and educators!
This seminar will cover a variety of topics including:
Event Details
Date: Monday, October 13, 2003
Time: 12:00 PM (Lunch/Registration - 11:30 AM)
Place: Newcomb Hall, South Meeting Room
Lunch will be provided for those who pre-register. Q&A will follow.
RSVP: The event is free, but seating is limited, so please RSVP to leslie@jrti.com as soon as possible and polarized stereo glasses will be made available for the demonstration, or call directly to register to Leslie Burns at 804.521.3042.
In order to ensure a quick response to a number of issues that have emerged with computers connected to the U.Va. network, the University is asking you to register your computer.
Registration is a simple process that can be completed in a few minutes. When you open a Web browser, please go to https://web.virginia.edu/microsys/register/ and follow the instructions.
Please register the computer(s) you normally use at your desk on Grounds. If you are registering a laptop computer, please connect to the Ethernet using a cable and disable your wireless card during the process by either pulling it out or turning it off.
You will need an account on Blue Unix, Home Directory, CMS, or HSC Exchange to register your system. (If you do not have a login and password on one of these services, there is no need to register your computer at this time.)
If you have any questions, please call the ITC Help Desk at 4-3731.
Over 230 selected titles in mathematics and related areas of interest are available at substantial discounts off of the list prices.
Faculty, Staff, TA, and Departmental discounts apply in addition to Springer's discounts.
Keep an eye on our website, http://www.bookstore.virginia.edu/, where we will soon have a link to Springer's YELLOW SALE 2003 Catalogue.
The sale will run through Dec. 31.
Questions: call us at 924-1073 or e-mail us at bookshop@virginia.edu.
