This overview of SGI SynaptIQ consists of the following sections:
The SGI Graphics Cluster uses either the Linux or Windows NT operating system and incorporates proprietary hardware and software from SGI. The hardware consists of the following:
A single master node
Multiple visual channel nodes (each with a commercial graphics card)
An Ethernet backbone, including a network switch
An optional SGI ImageSync network
Figure 1-1 illustrates the hardware architecture.
The software for the SGI Graphics Cluster Series 12 consists of the following:
Operating system (Windows NT 4.0 or SGI Linux kernel with XFS support (2.4.2-5SGI-137 or greater)
SGI ImageSync device drivers
SGI SynaptIQ (Linux systems only)
SGI DataSync (Linux systems only)
Figure 1-2 illustrates the software architecture.
SGI SynaptIQ provides critical cluster and graphics administration elements that make management across the system easy. SGI SynaptIQ is composed of basic cluster administration tools, termed Linux Plug-n-Go, a necessity for IA-32 systems running Linux. SGI SynaptIQ also includes all necessary drivers and the SGI Linux kernel compiled with OpenGL and other graphics tools that SGI has developed.