This page contains the following categories of information:
Use Cases
Getting Started with Amazon EC2 Running Clustercorp
Amazon EC2 Running Clustercorp AMIs
Pricing
About Rocks+
Use-Cases
Amazon EC2 helps you to leverage Rocks-based environments for a variety of use-cases, including:
Managing Enterprise Class Data Centers
Clustercorp’s Rocks+ and Amazon EC2 combine to form the ideal environment for running large sets of heterogeneous servers in the cloud for any number of general data center use-cases. Rocks+ provides users a ready-to-launch Rocks+ AMI, which is subsequently used to launch 10s, 100s, or 1,000s of servers with a single point of management and control.
The Rocks+ AMI comes pre-loaded with “Rolls,” which allow users to quickly build web servers, database servers, compute servers, and more, with pre-packaged software including Apache Web Server, MySQL, Java, and more, running on CentOS Linux.
Rocks+ also provides a powerful framework for defining your own client types and adding software into the distribution to meet the specific needs of your organization. Third party commercial software can be run inside of Rocks+ on EC2 under a Bring Your Own License (BYOL) model.
Managing Compute Clusters
Rocks+ has long been a leader in systems management for compute clusters. Clustercorp’s Rocks+ AMI allows users to build powerful High Performance Computing Clusters inside of Amazon EC2 by leveraging its pre-packaged HPC Roll (Message Passing Interface) and SGE Roll (Grid Engine) as well as a thorough list of optional commercial Rolls that run under a Bring Your Own License (BYOL) model. Pre-packaged Rolls include Intel Compilers, Portland Group Compilers, Absoft Compilers, TotalView Debuggers, and more. As with all Rocks-based solutions, you can add your own software or additional third party software as well.
On-Demand Usage
Amazon EC2 running Clustercorp enables you to take advantage of cost-effective, pay-as-you-go pricing, perfect for scaling up or down the number of instances to meet your workload demands. There are no long-term commitments or contracts, unlike purchasing a traditional license. For example, if you already own existing licenses but need to temporarily scale above that limit you can launch instances during your peak demand and eliminate those instances when your demand decreases. Alternatively, if you have an unpredictable or variable workload, you can reduce your costs by using Amazon EC2 running Clustercorp just when you need it. In both cases, you only pay for the instance-hours that you use.
Proof-of-Concept Development
Many projects begin by creating an environment to test a particular use-case before any significant investment is made. Amazon EC2 is perfect for this prototyping process. If you are a traditional business, you can start by using Amazon EC2 running Clustercorp and pay for what you use. You can start Amazon EC2 instances running Clustercorp AMIs in minutes, just using a credit card. If you choose to transition the prototype into a longer term project, you can continue to run them on Amazon EC2 running Clustercorp or purchase licenses through your traditional sales channel.
Getting Started with Amazon EC2 Running Clustercorp
*Standard Amazon instance pricing will apply for a limited beta period. Please register here and a Clustercorp representative will contact you with instructions for running Rocks+ in EC2.
Clustercorp AMIs are ready to run in Amazon EC2. Register using the link below to receive getting started guides and product information.
AMI Name
Clustercorp Rocks+ Server (64-bit) (Register for access)
Amazon EC2 Running Clustercorp AMIs
Clustercorp Rocks+ Server
This AMI is used to start building your Rocks+ data center in Amazon EC2. It includes a starting set of “Rolls” so you can begin building out your data center immediately, or you can customize the Server by adding or removing Rolls and/or defining your own client types.
Clustercorp Rocks+ Client
This AMI is automatically used as the base for all Rocks+ instances that are launched and controlled by your Rocks+ Server. The Rocks+ provisioning process will automatically examine your Roll and Server choices to define what is placed inside of this AMI during the boot process.
Pricing
Pay only for what you use. There is no minimum fee.
Pricing for Instances Running Clustercorp Rocks+
*Standard Amazon instance pricing will apply for a limited beta period. Please register here and a Clustercorp representative will contact you with instructions for running Rocks+ in EC2.
Pricing is per instance-hour of Amazon EC2 consumed for each instance type. Partial instance-hours consumed are billed as full hours. Data transfer for Amazon EC2 running Clustercorp is billed and tiered separately from Amazon EC2.
Pricing for Rocks+ Support
Rocks+ support is an optional add-on, priced on a per-year, per-server basis. Scalable licenses are available based on the average number of running instances. Please register here for details or contact Clustercorp directly at info@clustercorp.com or +1-408-694-3564.
About Rocks+
Rocks+ is a complete cluster and cloud operating environment. At its core is the Rocks framework (the middleware or “glue”) that holds together all the software components required to build and maintain a cluster or cloud with ease and efficiency. Whether you are in charge of a large-scale data center or converting a traditional data center to a cloud, Clustercorp Rocks+ can help you reduce the time and money you spend choosing, installing, and managing your complete solution.
Choose - Clustercorp Rocks+ helps simplify the selection and acquisition of all the software components you need to build a complete cluster or cloud software stack. In the past, you might have purchased an operating system, system monitoring application, load manager, and other components from separate vendors. Now you can select Clustercorp Rocks+Rolls (prepackaged software components) to get all the software you need from a single source. By choosing your complete software stack through Clustercorp, you can be assured that all of the components will work together seamlessly.
Deploy - Clustercorp Rocks+ also provides an automated software installation process to accelerate your time to solution. Simply check boxes to select the software you need to install; Rocks+ compiles those packages into a holistic distribution and automates the installation of the head node. Once that installation is complete, just network-boot (PXE-boot) the compute or cloud nodes for automatic provisioning, and you are ready to work. In Amazon EC2, this process is hidden by the base AMIs Clustercorp provides.
Manage - Clustercorp Rocks+ makes ongoing management easy. Cluster and cloud administrators manage the entire data center from the head node. If a node needs an update, Rocks+ pings the head node, and automatically reprovisions the compute or cloud node to a known-good state. Newly added nodes are also configured automatically—with a single command—without the need for complex
administrator assistance.
Succeed - Choosing Rocks+ ensures software components work together seamlessly, delivering high quality and a lower total cost of ownership over your data center's lifetime.
This product includes software developed by the Rocks Cluster Group at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, and its contributors.