Supercomputer operating system: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:47, 11 July 2018

Revision as of 03:35, 12 July 2018

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Since the end of the 20th century, '''supercomputer operating systems''' have undergone major transformations, as fundamental changes have occurred in [[supercomputer architecture]].<ref name=Padua426 /> While early [[operating system]]s were custom tailored to each [[supercomputer]] to gain speed, the trend has been moving away from in-house operating systems and toward some form of [[Linux]],<ref name=MacKenzie /> with it running all the supercomputers on the [[TOP500]] list in November 2017.

Given that modern [[massively parallel]] supercomputers typically separate computations from other services by using multiple types of [[Locale (computer hardware)|nodes]], they usually run different operating systems on different nodes, e.g., using a small and efficient [[Lightweight Kernel Operating System|lightweight kernel]] such as [[CNK operating system|Compute Node Kernel]] (CNK) or [[Compute Node Linux]] (CNL) on compute nodes, but a larger system such as a [[Linux]]-derivative on server and [[input/output]] (I/O) nodes.<ref name=EuroPar2004/><ref name=Alam>''An Evaluation of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Cray XT3'' by Sadaf R. Alam, et al., International Journal of High Performance Computing Applications, February 2008 vol. 22 no. 1 52-80</ref>

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Although most modern supercomputers use the [[Linux]] operating system,<ref>{{cite web

|url=http://www.zdnet.com/linux-continues-to-rule-supercomputers-7000016968/ |title=Linux continues to rule supercomputers |last=Vaughn-NicNichols |first=Steven J. |date=June 18, 2013 |website=[[ZDNet]] |accessdate=June 20, 2013}}</ref> each manufacturer has made its own specific changes to the Linux-derivative they use, and no industry standard exists, partly because the differences in hardware architectures require changes to optimize the operating system to each hardware design.<ref name=Padua426 /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.top500.org/overtime/list/32/os |title=Top500 OS chart |publisher=Top500.org |date= |accessdate=2010-10-31 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305234455/http://www.top500.org/overtime/list/32/os |archivedate=2012-03-05 |df= }}</ref>

==Context and overview==

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By the middle 1990s, despite the extant investment in older operating systems, the trend was toward the use of Unix-based systems, which also facilitated the use of interactive [[graphical user interface]]s (GUIs) for [[scientific computing]] across multiple platforms.<ref>''Frontiers of Supercomputing II'' by Karyn R. Ames, Alan Brenner 1994 {{ISBN|0-520-08401-2}} page 356</ref> The move toward a ''commodity OS'' had opponents, who cited the fast pace and focus of Linux development as a major obstacle against adoption.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sandia.gov/~rbbrigh/slides/conferences/commodity-os-ipdps03-slides.pdf |title=On the Appropriateness of Commodity Operating Systems for Large-Scale, Balanced Computing Systems |accessdate=January 29, 2013 |author=Brightwell,Ron Riesen,Rolf Maccabe,Arthur}}</ref> As one author wrote "Linux will likely catch up, but we have large-scale systems now". Nevertheless, that trend continued to gain momentum and by 2005, virtually all supercomputers used some [[Unix-like]] OS.<ref name=National136 >''Getting up to speed: the future of supercomputing'' by Susan L. Graham, Marc Snir, Cynthia A. Patterson, National Research Council 2005 {{ISBN|0-309-09502-6}} page 136</ref> These variants of Unix included [[IBM AIX]], the open source [[Linux]] system, and other adaptations such as [[UNICOS]] from Cray.<ref name=National136 /> By the end of the 20th century, Linux was estimated to command the highest share of the supercomputing pie.<ref name=Padua426 /><ref>[https://www.forbes.com/2005/03/15/cz_dl_0315linux.html Forbes magazine, 03.15.05: ''Linux Rules Supercomputers'']</ref>

==Modern approaches==

==मॉडर्न कांड==

[[File:IBM Blue Gene P supercomputer.jpg|240px|thumb|The [[Blue Gene]]/P supercomputer at [[Argonne National Laboratory|Argonne National Lab]] ]]

The IBM [[Blue Gene]] supercomputer uses the [[CNK operating system]] on the compute nodes, but uses a modified [[Linux]]-based kernel called I/O Node Kernel ([[INK (operating system)|INK]]) on the I/O nodes.<ref name=EuroPar2004>''Euro-Par 2004 Parallel Processing: 10th International Euro-Par Conference'' 2004, by Marco Danelutto, Marco Vanneschi and Domenico Laforenza {{ISBN|3-540-22924-8}} pages 835</ref><ref name=EuroPar2006 >''Euro-Par 2006 Parallel Processing: 12th International Euro-Par Conference'', 2006, by Wolfgang E. Nagel, Wolfgang V. Walter and Wolfgang Lehner {{ISBN|3-540-37783-2}} page</ref> CNK is a [[Lightweight Kernel Operating System|lightweight kernel]] that runs on each node and supports a single application running for a single user on that node. For the sake of efficient operation, the design of CNK was kept simple and minimal, with physical memory being statically mapped and the CNK neither needing nor providing scheduling or context switching.<ref name=EuroPar2004 /> CNK does not even implement [[Input/output|file I/O]] on the compute node, but delegates that to dedicated I/O nodes.<ref name=EuroPar2006 /> However, given that on the Blue Gene multiple compute nodes share a single I/O node, the I/O node operating system does require multi-tasking, hence the selection of the Linux-based operating system.<ref name=EuroPar2004/><ref name=EuroPar2006/>