Silicon Graphics Altix ICE 8000 Series, Quick Reference Manual

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1: SGI Altix ICE 8000 Series System Overview
• "Compute Node" on page 9
• "Individual Rack Unit" on page 10
• "Login Service Node" on page 10
• "Batch Service Node" on page 10
• "Gateway Service Node " on page 11
• "Storage Service Node " on page 11
System Admin Controller
The system admin controller (admin node), is used by a system administrator to
provision (install) and manage the SGI Altix ICE 8000 series system using Scali
Manage systems management software. There is only one admin node per SGI Altix
ICE 8000 series system, as shown in Figure 1-2 on page 7 and it cannot be combined
with any other nodes. A GigE connection provides the network connection between
the admin node, leader nodes, and service nodes. Communication to and from the
CMC and compute blades from the admin node is controlled by VLANs to reduce
network traffic bottlenecks in the system. The admin node is used to provision and
manage the leader nodes, compute nodes and service nodes. It receives and holds
aggregated management data from the leader nodes. The admin node is an appliance
node. It always runs software specified by SGI.
The kernels,
initrds
and root filesystems (which together make up an "image")
reside on the admin node.
When compute nodes are first set up with a new image, the leader nodes will cache
this information to reduce the network load for the admin node.
Rack Leader Controller
The rack leader controller (leader node) is used to manage the nodes in a single rack.
The rack leader controller is provisioned and functioned by the admin node. There is
one leader node per rack, as shown in Figure 1-2 on page 7. A GigE connection
provides the network connection to other leader nodes and to first IRU within its rack
as shown in Figure 1-3 on page 12 and Figure 1-4 on page 14. An InfiniBand fabric
connects it to the compute nodes within its rack and compute nodes in other racks.
The leader node is an appliance node. It always runs software specified by SGI. The
rack leader controller (leader node) does the following:
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