DBIC Computing Infrastructure

From BrainImagingCenter

Contents 1 Data Storage 2 AFS 2.1 Servers 2.2 Components 2.3 Applications 3 Raw Data Archival (Inbox) 3.1 Inbox System Diagram 4 Computational Infrastructure 4.1 DBIC Servers 4.2 “Private” computational resources 4.3 Sun Ray Clients 4.4 Web, Wiki, and Mailing List

Data Storage

The primary file systems are AFS (Andrew File System), which are currently available ~5.4TB. AFS create a virtual storage “pool” from individual devices and servers. Three AFS DB/FS servers balance storage to the network. There is no backup infrastructure for DBIC provided storage. For help on Using AFS please consult the Wiki.

AFS

Servers

• Minimal SPARC/Solaris install
• No outside shell access (console only)
• Storage Devices: Sun T3, Apple XRAID, Sun 6920, and 3511

Components

Applications

• The DBIC maintains recent versions of most imaging packages in AFS (FSL, AIR, AFNI, etc)
• Centralized initialization scripts (DBIC/etc) and local (~/.bashrc)
• Open Source applications compiled for SPARC (64bit), AMD64, and i386
• Over 161 scientific and technical applications installed in:

/afs/dbic.dartmouth.edu/usr/pkg/

Raw Data Archival (Inbox)

Data is transferred from the MR scanner to servers via SMB (Network file system). It is then archived via SAM-QFS on inbox system. Two tape copies are produced of each PAR/REC file pair. The user must then convert from PAR/REC (4d) to ANALYZE (3d).

Inbox System Diagram

• rolando run AMD64/Linux
• dbic-mrinbox is SPARC/Solaris
• Every 10 minutes dbic-mrinbox scans SMB (Windows File sharing) export on scanner and moves data
• NFS mount from dbic-mrinbox to rolando
• SAM-QFS manages disk/tape

Computational Infrastructure

DBIC Servers

dexter

• General purpose DBIC computational server
• Sun V20z (2x CPU AMD64, 2G)
• Fedora Core 4
• Provides remote access for almost all users

tectum

• 2-4x CPU VM, 8G

sulcus

• 2x AMD, 2G

rolando

• 2x AMD, 2G
• restricted for conversions

Moore 434 Lab

• Linux i386, AMD64, and Sun Ray (SPARC terminals)

“Private” computational resources

bacchus

• Sun V880 Server
• Solaris 10 03/05 Release (Note: The DBIC and fMRIDC did Solaris 10 beta testing for Sun on bacchus and other servers)
• 8x CPU (SPARC 750MHz, 16G)
• Fibre-Channel attached storage (2GB/s)
• LTO Gen2 Tape Library (SCSI attach)
• Large SAM-QFS filesystem (“/flash”)
• Shared via NFS to rolando and eros
• Automatic tape archival

eros

• Sun X4600 (AMD 64)
• Centos 4.5 (Red Hat based)
• 4x AMD64 (Dual Core CPUs), 16G
• NFS (network based) access to bacchus, AFS to DBIC storage

/flash

• 6TB available to several hosts

vagus

• Sun E420R (4x 400Mhz SPARC, 4G)
• Solaris 10 03/05
• The ancient dexter (circa 2002)
• LDAP authorization directory
• No user access

Sun Ray Clients

Sun Ray Clients are “thin clients,” meaning the server maintains their state. They currently run on bacchus. The server software is available for Linux as well. There are about 16 clients in Moore Hall.

Web, Wiki, and Mailing List

Services are provided from fissure (4x AMD, VM host). The Wiki backups to local disk (mysql db). The LDAP authorization directory is on vagus.cns (4x SPARC, 4GB).