Manufacturing Excellence

Aspen Systems takes pride in our manufacturing, system test, and support capabilities. From conception, to integration, to installed support, Aspen’s manufacturing excellence is part of our core culture, and this commitment helps you get the best possible product!

The process Aspen follows to manufacture your order is designed to promote the highest possible system field reliability and ensure that the system you receive meets your needs. Here are the steps we follow to build your order.

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When you and your sales engineer have completed your systems design and agreed upon a quoted configuration, your sales engineer will direct you to our Configuration Guide and Statement of Work (SOW).

The SOW is used to record your specific requirements and configuration choices for your new systems. Aspen will use your completed SOW and your final quote to perform a final engineering review of your system before it is built. We need the completed SOW before or with your Purchase order so that we may complete the engineering review as soon as possible. Don't worry, we'll be here to help you, and will be happy to work with you to get the SOW completed with the proper technical information needed to make your purchase a success.

After SOW approval, your job is sent to purchasing to procure any components that aren't in stock.

Remember that Aspen allows you to customize your order to get exactly the system you want, and that can mean that some of the parts necessary to complete your order aren't in stock.

As each discrete functional component of your system becomes parts complete, it is assembled.

A small cluster might have several jobs assigned to the separate functional components of the system. For instance, the master node might be one job, the nodes a 2nd job, and the rack and network components a third job. If the cluster had a dedicated storage node, that would be a fourth job number.

All the components in your system are serialized and tied to a job number at this step in the process. The job number that is assigned to each component of your system will be used for all future tracking or maintenance actions. When you receive your systems, they will have a label on the rear of each unit that identifies the job number they were built under, and that job number is all you need to provide to your Aspen support engineer for hardware maintenance actions.)
Next, your nodes are tested using the
Aspen Integrated Manufacturing Environment .
All systems are subjected to an extensive burn-in process to ensure that all components meet our high quality control standards. AIME makes sure that your nodes are assembled correctly and operating properly by performing a defined set of in-depth automated and stand-alone test loops on each component of your individual systems. The node must pass all AIME tests before any software can be installed, the node can be integrated into your cluster, or the node can be shipped (bare metal).
- Disk tests (on each individual drive or RAID partition):
  SMART check - checks for drive errors or recorded faults
  
  Bonnie++ - derives specific disk performance statistics
  
  IOZONE - large and small block transfer tests with speed checks
- Memory tests:
  memtester - several loops to check for memory errors
  
  RAMFS - a RAMFS is built across available memory, and specific tests are ran to excercise memory and generate errors
- CPU tests:
  cpuburn-in - an instance per core is ran for 90 minutes to ensure maximum CPU stability. Calculations are checked for accuracy, and the system is failed if any calculations yield erroneous results.
  
  HPL - an HPL run is executed across all cores on the node to ensure baseline performance of the processor and system package.
- Network test
  
  All Gigabit Ethernet ports on the node are tested via a customized kernel and build of Netperf to ensure full interface speed and operability.
- EOD test
  
  After the disk, memory, cpu, and network tests have completed successfully, AIME runs all tests again simultaneously. This test is designed to stress all the discrete system components at the same time. This can identify any system level issues not shown by individual tests.
  
  Why do you call this EOD?
  
  Ah, good question. We developed this test to attempt to break the node. We want the node to break during manufacturing, not when it gets installed at your site. Someone mentioned that we were trying to perform Explosive Ordnance Disposal ("make the node explode like a bomb") and the name just stuck. We apologize for our engineers. What can we say? They're geeks!
- Cycle test
  
  5 soft reboots are performed under AIME control. This test ensures BIOS settings are correct, and can illuminate power or systemic issues with the node.
- Standalone Tests
  Standalone tests can be performed at any time during the AIME cycle, but must be successfully completed prior to AIME QA approval of the node under test.
  
  USB Tests - All USB ports are tested for data transfer capabilities and any errors will cause the node to fail its AIME test.
  
  PS/2 - PS/2 ports, if they exist, are tested for data transfer capabilities
  
  CDROM/Floppy - If a CDROM or Floppy drive exist on the node, they are tested to ensure functionality.
- Real Time Order Status (Not yet released!)
  
  We're constantly working to upgrade your user experience, and this is one of the features we're releasing soon, please be patient!
  
  Using your Aspen Support Account control panel, you can interactively view the progress of your cluster order and assembly in real time, including results of the AIME testing and certification process, and what phase of the build your system is in.
- Quality Assurance
  
  Once all AIME tests have been successfully completed, quality assurance personnel use the AIME Bill of Materials function to perform a final comparision of the manufactured system against the job traveler (generated from your quote). This step ensures that your system is built as planned in the original quote and job. If all is correct, the quality assurance engineer will approve the node, releasing it to software build if the system requires it or passing the node to the rack assembly or shipping teams as indicated by the build type.
- Software Build
  
  If your purchase is a cluster or workstation with software, it is passed to our production engineers for software build. Whenever possible, the same engineer who reviewed and approved your SOW, or perhaps helped you fill it out, is the engineer assigned to build your system. This ensures the greatest possible continuity and helps us make sure that we capture and implement your requirements correctly.
- Remote Testing
  
  If you specified models to be built or applications to be installed on your purchased systems, we probably asked you to perform Remote System Testing to verify that all your codes or applications are running properly prior to shipping. This ensures that we can tune your system for your applications before the system arrives on your floor, as well as identify and fix any other issues that might come up. We highly recommend that you perform remote testing if you have specified any applications or model builds as part of your purchase.
- Shipping & Delivery
  
  After you have tested any codes specified for the system, your production engineer will coordinate delivery dates with you, and ship your system to the delivery location specified in your Statement of Work. Any special delivery or packing instructions should be outlined in your SOW.
- Material Tracking
  
  Aspen keeps close track of the components in your system, both while it is being manufactured, and in the field. System components that do not possess a unique serial number themselves are barcoded with an Aspen barcode to facilitate future tracking. AIME provides us with all electronically accessible serial numbers when it is ran, and your systems are tracked historically, with a unique AIME number, a job number, and an assigned node name. This information follows the motherboard MAC address for the life of the node, and we can pull that information by job number and node name or by MAC address at any time it is required.
  
  If you require specifically formatted serial number information, perhaps in a spreadsheet or other format, please speak to your sales engineer and outline this requirement in your Statement of Work for the system. We'll be happy to help!

At Aspen, we are dedicated to manufacturing excellence. We think we have one of the best manufacturing processes in the HPC marketplace, and the quality of our delivered systems reflects that. But rest assured, our involvement doesn't end when your system is on your floor and working. We offer industry leading support too!

Contact Aspen Systems sales at 1-800-992-9242 for more information.


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