Chalmers oanvända datorkraft - Distribuering av arbete och energihantering med HTCondor

Abstract

Chalmers University of Technology today have numerous computers which are never powered down, at the same time there is a need for more computation power for researchers. Hence, we have investigated the possibility to use the computers for computing power and secondly, if there is no work to be done, to put them into power saving mode. We have made a thorough study where we compared different distributing systems and in the end HTCondor was chosen as the best to implement. HTCondor is an excellent system for opportunistic use of computing power, i.e. make use of computers that no one else is currently using. The system is used at several universities around the world with good results and would be excellent at Chalmers, where there is a need for such a system. Our implementation shows that HTCondor is well capable of handling unused computing power. HTCondor can handle most file types that may be run on the system. The system can also put computers in sleep mode when they are not in use and turn them on when needed. To simplify for the users of HTCondor we have created a user interface that have all necessary functions required to make use of the system as no good such interface was available. There are doubts from Chalmers regarding the idea of shutting down computers, they argue that the computers always must be available and that problems may arise when turning them on, for example programs that do not start. Our investigation shows that there are no bigger problems with turning on and off computers, which is shown in a energy study in which sleep mode is determined to be the best energy saving option for Chalmers.