Plexus Corporation has played a key role in the development, manufacturing, and delivery of these Data Vortex validation products. This ITAR-compliant, American-based company is committed to excellence at all levels of the process from engineering through manufacturing. Working side by side our teams have made our differentiating designs a market-ready reality.
General Data Vortex® Systems Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Within the context of a Data Vortex computer, what makes up a compute node?
A: The compute nodes used in current generation Data Vortex systems are Intel-based, Off the Shelf/commodity servers. Each server is populated with either one or two high-end Intel Xeon processors. Each processor has 128 GB of DDR DRAM for local application usages. Vortex Interface Cards (VICs) are installed into the servers so each CPU has its own network interface. Additionally, each compute node has an InfiniBand card to support porting legacy software that relies on InfiniBand technology.
Q: Is the Data Vortex network chip set built with FPGAs or custom ASICs?
A: Current generation Data Vortex Switches and VICs are built with Altera Stratix V FPGAs. Next generation Data Vortex network chip sets will be built with Alter Stratix 10 FPGAs. The future Data Vortex network design road-map is available under non-disclosure.
Q: How large can the current generation of Data Vortex computers be built?
A: In the current generation, 1-level systems are scalable up to 64 nodes (DV202 – DV206). 2-level systems are scalable up to 2,048 nodes (DV207-DV211). 3-level systems are scalable up to 65,653 nodes (DV212 – DV216). The Data Vortex 2-level switch has been designed and implemented. Our 1-level vs. 2-level system performance comparisons run on our 2-level test bed platform show that as we grow levels and nodes, applications do NOT take a large performance hit as other systems do.
Q: Is there a Data Vortex Users Group?
A: Yes. The Inaugural Data Vortex Users Group will be hosted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in September, 2017. All attendees must be under non-disclosure with Interactic Holdings, LLL | Data Vortex Technologies, DBA.
Q: What OS does the system run?
A: CentOS 7.2.1511
Q: What scheduler is used?
A: Slurm 14.03.10
Q: How is the system managed?
A: Cobbler & Ansible
Q: How is the user environment managed?
A: Lmod, a Lua based module system.
Q: What languages are supported?
A: C, OpenMP, pthreads
Q: Does the system support mixed mode programming?
A: Yes, software can be written to take advantage of both the Data Vortex network & legacy MPI over Infiniband
Q: What is the default compiler?
A: gcc 4.8.5
For additional questions on validation Data Vortex systems, including programming inquiries, purchasing opportunities, or further specifics, please contact us through the following form:
