Speaker
Dr
marc dobson
(CERN)
Description
The needs of ATLAS experiment at the upcoming LHC accelerator, CERN, in terms of data
transmission rates and processing power require a large cluster of computers (of the
order of thousands) administrated and exploited in a coherent and optimal manner.
Requirements like stability, robustness and fast recovery in case of failure impose a
server-client system architecture with servers distributed in a tree like structure
and clients booted from the network. For security reasons, the system should be
accessible only through an application gateway and, also to ensure the autonomy of
the system, the network services should be provided internally by dedicated machines
in synchronization with CERN IT department's central services.
The paper describes a small scale implementation of the system architecture that fits
the given requirements and constraints. Emphasis will be put on the mechanisms and
tools used to net boot the clients via the "Boot With Me" project and to synchronize
information within the cluster via the "Nile" tool.
Primary author
Dr
marc dobson
(CERN)
