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Condor Takes Flight at Clemson
Condor High Throughput Computing Software, a distributed system that enables scientists to easily perform large-scale computations by harnessing the power of any available computer, was deployed at Clemson at the beginning of the spring term. Created at the University of Wisconsin-Madison more than two decades ago, Condor assigns resources to jobs through a flexible matchmaking mechanism that brings together applications and resources. Through this novel mechanism Condor can turn a collection of computers scattered throughout the campus into a powerful campus grid. Once such a grid is in place, it can provide the campus community with a gateway to our national cyber infrastructure.
Mary Beth Kurz, assistant professor of industrial engineering at Clemson, has been the first to harness the new Condor grid at Clemson, using the equivalent of 17 years of computer time in just one week. “Before using the campus grid, I was completely without hope of completing the computational studies my research required,” said Kurz. She studies genetic algorithms for large scale optimization in manufacturing and scheduling applications, and the Condor software has enabled her to run hundreds of algorithmic processing jobs to increase the throughput of manufacturers.
Sebastien Goasguen, assistant professor in the new School of Computing at Clemson University contributed to the Condor deployment. Goasguen, who previously led the deployment of Condor at Purdue University, works with the Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) group to drive the development of a Cyberinfrastructure Center on campus. Clemson has made computing a strategic priority, and the investment in this campus-wide cyberinfrastructure through the use of Condor, and a partnership with the Open Science Grid (OSG), will boost research and education in many areas including manufacturing research.
Mary Beth Kurz, assistant professor of industrial engineering, and Sebastien Goasguen, assistant professor in the new School of Computing, stand in front of a bank of computers in Brackett Hall. These stations are part of the Condor High Throughput Computing distributed system that enables scientists to easily perform large-scale computations.
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