CLOUD

CHAMPAIGN, IL -- The Open Cluster Group (OCG) has released OSCAR 1.2.1, a new version of the software package that makes configuring and maintaining a Linux cluster as easy as installing commercial software from a CD. OSCAR stands for Open Source Cluster Applications Resources. The software is available for download from the OSCAR project page at OSDN's SourceForge.net: http://oscar.sourceforge.net/ OSCAR 1.2.1 integrates the System Installation Suite (SIS) open source software package into the OSCAR package. SIS (http://www.sisuite.org) is a cluster installation tool based on the SystemImager package. OSCAR Version 1.2.1 enhances security through the addition of OpenSSH encryption. It also includes the latest versions of LAM/MPI, a tool that allows Message Passing Interface (MPI) codes to run on many high-end computing systems; Portable Batch System (PBS), which queues computing jobs for running on a cluster; and MPICH, another tool for running MPI codes. Cluster Command and Control (C3), a suite of tools to simplify the use and administration of clusters, also is part of OSCAR. Users interested in the new version of OSCAR also are invited to attend OSCAR Install Fest. The event will take place March 14 on the Sourceforge.net Clustering Foundry (http://foundries.sourceforge.net/clusters) and will give users the chance to work with OSCAR researchers to get their clusters up and running. OSCAR is a software development project of the OCG, a collaboration among technology companies and major research centers dedicated to providing a common base platform for cluster computing. OCG members are IBM, Intel, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Illinois' National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Indiana University, Dell, SGI, and MSC.Software Corporation. OSCAR is a complete Linux cluster infrastructure that allows users to set up a parallel Linux supercomputing cluster in hours. The tools included in OSCAR are all community accepted, tested, and configured to work together. For more information on OCG, see http://www.openclustergroup.org/