Getting Started: Switching to a Univa UD Cluster, Desktop, or Grid Solution

Ready to switch to the leading open-source grid and cluster products? Learn how below.

I've got a Sun Grid Engine or open source Grid Engine cluster scheduler installed. What do I do?
For Grid Engine users, it couldn't be easier to get UniCluster installed and thus extend your capabilities to include the full cluster stack.

UniCluster Express 3.2 embeds the Grid Engine scheduler from Sun, combined and integrated with a variety of other components to provide a complete cluster management solution. You can access this full range of cluster functionality simply by downloading UniCluster Express on top of your existing Grid Engine installation. By doing so, you'll not only get the newest version of SGE but also get the integrated set of management components.

Note that Cluster Express/Pro does not support the SGE X11 Motif GUI, Java Web Console, or the ARCo web interface. Instead, Cluster Express sports a new Java GUI that integrates across its components (e.g. Grid Engine, Ganglia, etc), and Cluster Pro will soon support the sophisticated Insight reporting and analytics interface.

I've got an existing cluster product installed. How do I switch?
Put an end to hefty maintenance price tags and unreliable support. You can be up and running on a proven, cost-effective Univa UD product today.

First, install UniCluster Express either onto the same execution nodes as your existing cluster (so execution nodes will run jobs from both schedulers at the same time), or you can remove some nodes from your existing cluster and then add these to your Univa UD cluster.

Next, applications must be migrated from your existing cluster to your Univa UD cluster. UniCluster Express supports several interfaces, including command line, C, Java, scripting, and web services. These interfaces support essentially equivalent functionality as the interfaces of your existing cluster product. Univa UD Professional Services offers an Application Adaptation service to assist you in this process. In addition, look for our upcoming release of migration tools to assist in application on-boarding.

Finally, as an optional step, UniCluster Express's job scheduler (GridEngine) can be configured with a myriad of policies to control job priorities, in accordance with your established business priorities. While different schedulers may take somewhat different approaches, they are again essentially equivalent in terms of the types of policies they are able to express. Again, Univa UD Professional Services can assist you in this process if desired.

I'm running a desktop cycle harvesting or enterprise grid with commercial tools (EGO, Symphony, GridServer etc.). How do I switch?
Univa UD's Grid MP is extremely easy to install. The client software is distributed through MSI, the industry standard for installing software on Windows machines which is compatible with all corporate desktop deployment tools. Once the client software is installed, further updates can easily be pushed through the central system.

Grid MP can be run side-by-side with any existing scheduler so new users can perform an easy migration. Once you are comfortable with the new solution, you can selectively set the Univa UD desktop grid to be the primary scheduler and then phase out the legacy scheduler. This is a simple process used commonly by our new customers who have chosen to migrate to a new Univa UD environment.

In addition, application migration to the Univa UD Grid MP environment is very straightforward – the majority of applications can be migrated with command-line tools that closely resemble existing tools, and Univa UD's mpsub toolset is extremely user-friendly and most customers become familiar with this toolset and are up and running in a matter of hours.