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Why UniCluster 4.1?

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Below are some of the differentiators that make UniCluster 4.1 the superior alternative for integrated HPC cluster management.

To see how UniCluster 4.1 compares to alternatives, review the comparison chart.

HPC Systems Management capabilities
Only UniCluster 4.1 applies a systems management approach to cluster operation, addressing several key phases of the HPC lifecycle.
Key applications and tools packaged as Kits
UniCluster 4.1 includes numerous technology packages options to extend the power of your base cluster, such as Nagios, Cacti, MPI Libraries, SGE, OFED, Virtualization Kit, and an Optional Intel Cluster Checker Kit.
Virtualization capabilities (Beta version)
UniCluster 4.1 offers Xen node provisioning, with the ability to create nodes running Linux with Xen Kernels and install images onto nodes running Xen.
Community-enabled open source
With UniCluster, users gain access to a vibrant community of users for knowledge sharing and support.
Unrestricted support
Unlike other products, UniCluster is fully supported – every component of the product has commercial-grade support available.
Easy to acquire and implement
UniCluster installation is fast and easy, with a simple, seamless upgrade process. And with support via the both Grid.org community and Univa, users can rest assured their implementations are sustainable.

Compare UniCluster 4.1 capabilities to alternative cluster software solutions:

Product	Platform Computing Platform LSF	Altair Engineering PBS Pro	Univa UniCluster 4.1
Licensing
Price Model	Per CPU	Per Core*	Per Node & CPU Hour*
Price Structure	Perpetual and Annual Subscription	Annual per core.	Annual Subscription and Pay-per-Use*
Class Based Pricing	Yes	No	No
Memory Restrictions	Yes	No	No
Core Surcharge	Yes	No	No
Software License	Closed	Closed	Open
License Key Required	Yes	Yes	No
Bundled Components
Workload Scheduler	Platform LSF	PBS Pro	Sun Grid Engine
Cluster Management	Extra*	N/A	Included
Realtime Monitoring	Extra*	N/A	Included
MPI	Extra*	N/A	Yes
Cluster Tools	No	No	Yes
Bundled Operating System	No	No	Yes
Oracle Unbreakable Linux	N/A	N/A	Yes
CentOS	with OCS	N/A	Yes
RHEL	with OCS	N/A	Yes
Support
Multiple Levels (price points)	24 Hour Only	No	Yes
Single Support Path	No	No	Yes
* for bundled components
Cloud Functionality
Cloud Extension	No	No	Yes
Provisioning in Cloud	No	No	Yes
Price Model	N/A	N/A	Pay-per-Use
Intel Cluster Ready Compatible Component	No	Yes	Yes
Cluster Management Functionality
Linux/Windows Dual Boot Support	No	No	Yes
Consistent, Single Deployment Mechanism	No Consistency*	N/A	Yes
Single User Sign-on	No	No	Yes
Bare Metal Provisioning	No	No	Yes
Configuration Management	No	No	Yes
Manages Application Install into Cluster	No	No	Yes
Native Package Management	No	No	Yes
Integrated Monitoring	LSF information only	No	Yes
Grid Services	Extra*	N/A	Included
Workload Management Functionality
Scheduling Policies	Fairshare, Preemption, Application Encapsulation, Advance Reservation, Resource Reservation and Service Level Agreement (SLA) based scheduling	Fairshare, Preemption, Advance Reservation, Backfill, Resource Reservation, Load Balancing	Fairshare, Functional Project, Override, Advance Reservation, Backfill, Resource Reservation and Resource Quota Sets
Checkpointing	user, application and kernel	application or kernel	Flexible checkpointing method applied using any technique - user library or kernel.
Parallel Jobs Scalability * Note this describes scalability for the workload manager only.	scalable to 6,000 way parallel job	single parallel job with 10,000 cores	single parallel job with 64,000 cores
Node Scalability * Note this describes scalability for the workload manager only.	Scalable to 4,000+ nodes	3,000+ nodes	Scalable to 4,000+ nodes 64,000 cores
Standards	DRMAA, JSDL	DRMAA, POSIX	DRMAA, POSIX
Job Arrays	Yes	Yes	Yes
Resource Quotas	Partial with general limits	No	Resource Quota Sets
Interactive Job Support	full interactive support	full interactive support	full interactive support
Notes:
	Platform licenses Cluster Management, Realtime Monitoring, MPI and Grid Services at extra cost. See www.platform.com (Platform Manage; Platform OCS, Platform RTM, Platform MPI, Platform LSF MultiCluster)	Altair Engiineering offers PBS Pro licenses from their online store. Altair does not offer cluster management, cluster tools or monitoring.	Univa offers CPU Hour & pay-per-use pricing via UniCloud. UniCluster pricing is per node.
	Platform products have independent installers. Platform OCS and Platform Manage each have discreet package maagement and installers.		UniCluster leverages a single package management and installer framework. Individual applications can also be installed as RPMs.