- HPC Buyers Guide
Detailed Buyers Reference- Applications
- Budget
- Processors
- Interconnects
- Memory
- Distributions
- Cluster Management
- Warranty and Support
- Cluster Racking
- Cluster Logical Layout
- Master Node
- Storage
- Backup
- Nodes
- Power
- Cooling
- Commercial Software
- Schedulers
- Account Management
- Security
- Windows Integration
- Shipping and Delivery
- On-Site and Training
- Next Steps
HPC Applications- Processors
- System
- Network
- Storage
- Power
- Cooling
- Facilities Estimator
- Remote Management
- GPU Computing
- Green Computing
- Visualization
- Compilers
- Operating Systems
- Virtualization
- Schedulers and Tools
Specifying and purchasing a High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster that meets your needs can be time consuming and labor intensive. The Aspen Systems Detailed Buyers Reference helps to explain the options you have for your new cluster and some of the choices you will need to make.
Like most HPC vendors Aspen offers a standardized build and package selection that follows HPC best practices. However, unlike some other HPC vendors, we also offer you the opportunity to customize your cluster hardware and software, with options and capabilities tuned to your specific needs and your environment.
This is a more complex process than simply providing you a “canned” cluster, which might or might not best fit your needs. Many customers value us for our flexibility and engineering expertise, coming back again and again for upgrades to existing clusters, or new clusters which mirror their current optimized solutions. Other customers value our standard cluster configuration to serve their HPC computing needs, and purchase that option from us again and again.
To help with this process, Aspen provides you with four tools that can help you at different periods in your configuration and procurement.
- Buyers Guide (PDF) (One Online Page) – The Buyers Guide is a tool that can help you summarize your requirements, functioning as a quick reference or memory aid for the choices you need to think about for your new HPC system. Even advanced users find the Buyers Guide helpful as a quick reminder of their configuration choices, and your sales engineer may have you look at the Buyers Guide on-line while he or she discusses your options and requirements. Every item in the Buyers Guide is linked to the appropriate location in the Detailed Buyers Reference so that you may easily access more detailed information about your choices as well as our specific recommendations for certain configurations.
- Detailed Buyers Reference (this document) (PDF) (One Online Page) – Use this document to investigate different technologies and configuration options. Our web site links to specific sections of this document to explain specific configuration choices, or you can read it on-line or download it to peruse at your convenience. Reading the entire document may provide useful information, or perhaps combine some of your current knowledge in ways that will help you better understand your needs and how Aspen HPC solutions can be used to meet them.
- Configuration Guide (PDF) (One Online Page) – The Configuration Guide is a detailed explanation of specific information we will need to know to actually build your system when you decide to purchase. Each section of the Configuration Guide corresponds to a section of the Statement of Work. Your Aspen sales engineer will provide you the Configuration Guide and a Statement of Work with their first quotes to you.
- Statement of Work – The Statement of Work is used to record your specific requirements and configuration choices for your purchase, and Aspen will use your completed Statement of Work and your quotes to perform a final engineering review of your system before it is built. We ask that you provide us a completed Statement of Work before or with your Purchase Order so that we may complete your final engineering review as expeditiously as possible.
