The High-Performance Computing Center houses a collection of Dell data-center grade servers most of which are configured in High-Performance Computing Clusters.  Consequently, the abbreviation HPCC can refer either to the overall installation or to a specific collection of severs--a cluster.  A more detailed description of the hardware configuration can be found at the Hardware Configuration tab.

There are two types of users of the HPCC facilities.  The first type consists of those users who need access to a single machine with more of some resource than is usually available on a standard desktop workstation or laptop.  The scarce resource may be processing power, RAM or disk space or some combination of these.  The second type consists of users that have an application (either self-written or commercial) that does true parallel processing.  Within this latter type there are two subdivisions--applications with parallel processing done on a single physical machine (with multiple processors with multiple cores) and applications that are implemented in such a way that they can distribute work across multiple physical machines.

To take advantage of parallel processing capability either of a single machine or multiple networked machines one of the following must be true:

• The application must have been designed and written to take advantage of the available parallel processing capability. For example, tasks may need to communicate with each other during execution.
• There is a way to decompose the job in such a way that independent parts, that need no interaction with each other, can run independently on different machines.
• There is a way to decompose the job in a way that allows job steps to overlap with each other in a pipelined manner.

If none of the above is true, and you have no control over the design and implementation of the
application, then there is probably nothing to be gained from using a cluster. In the case where there is no inherent parallelism, and no way to create parallelism, then you may still need access to a machine with more horsepower or memory than your typical desktop/laptop.

In order to get you access to the resources you may need, please supply the information requested on the User Application Form (.pdf). You may hand deliver your request to one of the administrative assistants in the Dean's Office (EC 301) or e-mail it to HPCC@tamuk.edu.  Unless you have some specialized requirement, new-user applications are typically processed within three business days. HPCC users are subject to the same TAMUK and TAMUS technology policies as apply to all other campus computer systems. Failure to comply will result in your account being closed.

All systems comprising the HPCC use the CentOS operating system. Consequently, depending
on your project you will need some level of expertise with the Linux command structure.
Typically, machines are accessed via an SSH client such as putty. If the application you are
using or developing has a graphical user interface (GUI), that GUI will be usable providing you
have an X-windows server installed on your workstation. Specific login information will be
provided when your project/account is established.