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Re: Apple's SciTech Workgroup Cluster

I'm a sales engineer on the workgroup cluster, so let me address your questions.

Michael Dinsmore wrote:

We've been looking at these systems, but haven't received specific information about them.

However, my assumption is that you can "unbundle the software" simply by re-installing X Server from disk;  and I think that the tools that are included are merely pre-configured OSS tools--that is, they don't have a value in and of themselves, just that they have been configured (well) to run on those machines.  So by formatting the disk, you're not actually deleting licenses that you would otherwise have to pay for, but simply losing the custom config work that was put into it.



The BioTeam iNquiry software comes on a firewire drive as a loadable image. So, yes, you're paying for the integration that the BioTeam did, and the significant work that they did bunding the apps into a web portal. The iNquiry software isn't required, but it is highly recommended. It's a really nice application, and you should see a live demo to understand just how much time iNquiry can save. Without iNquiry, you're on your own to assemble a job manager and get your applications compiled and running on the cluster. Also, note that iNquiry is extensible to support just about any command-line application, so you can pretty easily integrate any custom software you may have written.

I'm also assuming that they come with Xgrid for their processor management.



By default, the management is done by Sun Grid Engine. Platform LSF is also supported.

But does this unit compare favorably to purchasing the components individually and assembling them yourself? I assumed that they were pretty much rack price, with the value add of configuring the software. If you're not going to use the software, does the hardware still present a discount?

Government, Education, and Commercial pricing is available. The bundle is discounted, but you would have to compare to your individual pricing to see whether the "list" price for the cluster is better than the component pricing.

If you would like more information on the workgroup cluster for bioinformatics, you can click on the "Buy Now" button on http://www.apple.com/xserve/cluster/wgcluster.html and fill out the form, or "in the U.S., members of commercial, government and non-profit organizations, please call 866-814-2658. Members of academic institutions may reach a specialist at 800-800-APPLE."

The 866 number rings my desk and I would be happy to help non-education accounts if you have more questions, or I'm happy to reply on-list if anyone else has technical questions about the cluster.

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References: 
 >Re: Apple's SciTech Workgroup Cluster (From: Michael Dinsmore <email@hidden>)



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