Introduction

A cluster is the aggregation of multiple stand-alone computers linked together by software and networking technologies to create a unified system.

Clusters are typically categorized into 2 general types:

• High Performance Computing (HPC), made up of markets traditionally serviced by supercomputers for applications requiring greater computational power than a single computer can provide; or
• Enterprise or High Availability (HA) with automatic failover, load balancing, redundancy, and other features that provide high reliability for the data center. Many HPC clusters also incorporate some of the features of HA clusters.

Application requirements vary between and within each of these system types. For this reason it's imperative that you choose a cluster partner that understands the intricacies of cluster design and can help you avoid the pitfalls of cluster deployment.

High Performance Computing (HPC)

The overwhelming majority of today's high performance computing (HPC) clusters are based on Linux. IT managers recognize the benefits of Linux:

• Great Performance
• Scalability
• Flexibility
• Affordability

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for HPC Compute Nodes works out of the box. With an established ecosystem of hardware and software vendors. And it's easy to start with a small HPC cluster and add resources as needed.

Users access compute nodes via head node servers, which are implemented with Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform.

High-Availability (HA)

For applications that require maximum uptime, a Red Hat Enterprise Linux cluster with Red Hat Cluster Suite is the answer. Specifically designed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Cluster Suite provides two distinct types of clustering:

• Application/Service Failover - Create n-node server clusters for failover of key applications and services
• IP Load Balancing - Load balance incoming IP network requests across a farm of servers

With Red Hat Cluster Suite, applications can be deployed in high availability configurations so that they are always operational-bringing "scale-out" capabilities to Enterprise Linux deployments.

For high-volume open source applications, such as NFS, Samba, and Apache, Red Hat Cluster Suite provides a complete ready-to-use failover solution. For most other applications, customers can create custom failover scripts using provided templates. Red Hat Professional Services can provide custom Red Hat Cluster Suite deployment services where required.

Taashee Expertise

To begin with, Taashee will ensure that you get the right mix of Redhat Products to meet your organization's demand. Thereafter it will take complete responsibility of installation, configuration, training and maintenance of the implementation.