Computing resources

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Contents

Keywords: operating system, Cadence, RHEL, Scientific Linux, machine, hostname, IP address, cluster, NFS, network printer, CUPS

Introduction

EDA softwares licensed by INFN for the VLSI laboratory run on UNIX/Linux operating systems only. These tools are commercial and industry-standard applications, which cannot be installed on personal machines.

The VLSI laboratory offers different workspaces and available machines have been grouped into a computing cluster. In this chapter we provide basic information about supported operating systems and cluster organization.

Further information and guidelins you need to know about working with VLSI computing resources can be found in Troubleshooting as well as in HowTo's and FAQs pages.

Supported operating systems

The most part of the design tools available in the VLSI laboratory come from Cadence Design Systems, which officially supports commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) operating systems (both 32 and 64 bit architectures) as well as UNIX Solaris workstations (64 bit only). For up-to-date information about Cadence official operating systems support see the Supported Platform Matrix for Cadence Applications here.

The VLSI cluster includes both standard x86_64 desktop PCs and Sun workstations. Most of the x86_64 machines run Scientific Linux (SL) 5.x/6.x, which is essentially a free version of RHEL recompiled from source. A few machines run Fedora instead. Sun workstations run Solaris.

Available machines

A list of the machines currently in use is presented below. The naming convention used in INFN computing networks at the University of Turin includes a reference to the machine IP address followed by an operating system identifier (xl for Linux, xs for UNIX and wx for Windows).

  • elt56xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Scientific Linux 5.x)
  • elt57xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Scientific Linux 5.x)
  • elt59xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Fedora)
  • elt76xs.to.infn.it (Sun, Solaris)
  • elt81xs.to.infn.it (Sun, Solaris)
  • elt83xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Scientific Linux 5.x)
  • elt84xs.to.infn.it (Sun, Solaris)
  • elt88xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Fedora)
  • elt89xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Scientific Linux 5.x)
  • elt90xs.to.infn.it (Sun, Solaris)
  • elt95wx.to.infn.it (x86_64, Windows RHEL)
  • elt191xl.to.infn.it (x86_64, Scientific Linux 5.x)


Be aware that IP addresses are private, hence VLSI machines are visible only from within INFN and university computing networks. The remote access from outside the INFN domain requires that you have obtained an INFN UNIX account and is discussed in Accessing computing resources remotely.

System administration

System administration is not duty of VLSI users, hence no Linux administrator privileges come with a VLSI account (nor through the sudo command). For any computing-related issues such as account or CAD problems, optional software installations etc. always contact the VLSI system administrator mazza@NOSPAMto.infn.it (remove NOSPAM in the address).

VLSI computing cluster

All VLSI machines are grouped into a traditional Network File System (NFS) computing cluster. Maintenance and administration are duties of the VLSI system administrator. However, the key to successfully run the various design tools is to know how he has planned them to be used. In this section we provide a few details about the cluster organization.

Please, don't fotget to read carefully VLSI policies about machine Shutdowns and reboots.

An NFS cluster basically consists of a server machine and one or more clients. Each client can remotely access the data stored on the server machine and optionally on other clients. File systems or directories to be shared are specified in the /etc/exports configuration files of server and clients. In particular, each line in /etc/exports specifies a file system or a directory to be exported by NFS and which machines have access to that file system or directory.

VLSI machines are mounted under a main shared directory /export. EDA softwares, technologies, licenses and configuration files involved in the design activity are physically installed under /usr on the elt59xl.to.infn.it server machine in the cluster and can be accessed through the mount point /export/elt59xl/disk0 on each client machine.

Always check out that the server machine is reacheable using the ping command: 

ping elt59xl.to.infn.it

Use man ping for help and documentation.

To get familiar with such configuration, list the contents of /export, /usr and /export/elt59xl/disk0 directories, 

ls -l /export
ls -l /usr
ls -l /export/elt59xl/disk0


In particular, look at the symbolic links (soft links) placed in the local /usr directory. These links point to /usr remote directories on the server machine which have been mounted under /export/elt59xl/disk0 (e.g. /usr/cadence → /export/elt59xl/disk0/cds), allowing to remotely access software resources installed on the server machine through NFS.

Each VLSI machine hosts different accounts. Users' home directories are created in /users/<username>. Also home directories are exported using NFS, mounted under /export/eltXXX/disk0/users/<username> and shared between the other VLSI machines through symbolik links, 

ls -l /users


This is a very useful setup that allows to quickly share files among VLSI users.

For more details about the NFS cluster configuration please refer to the VLSI protected area.

Printing

Different network printers are available for VLSI users. Default printers are already installed on all VLSI machines. The installation of any additional printers on VLSI machines requires administration privileges, please contact the VLSI system administrator (mazza@NOSPAMto.infn.it, remove NOSPAM in the address).

You can list which printers are installed on your VLSI machine using the lpstat command: 

lpstat -p [-v]

Use man lpstat for help and documentation.

Next we provide details about available network printers. Use the information to install printers on your personal laptop. Since IP addresses are private, printers are visible only from within INFN computing networks. The installation on a system running UNIX/Linux can be performed using CUPS (open your Web browser and enter http://localhost:631 in the address bar) or any other system configuration wizard (e.g. System ⇒ Administration ⇒ Printing on Scientific Linux). On a Windows system, open the configuration wizard placed in the Control Panel. Additional drivers might be required.

INFN network printers use the same naming convention described for VLSI machines. In this case the identifier is pr.
More details about available INFN printers can be found at http://calcolo.to.infn.it/printer-ita.html.

:!: Note
Do not print VLSI tools documentation ! Such files are hundreds of pages, it would be just a waste of paper. Furthemore, hardcopies are explicitely denied by copyright laws and policies.

:!: Note
ALICE and CMS printers are available only for VLSI users who are members of ALICE and CMS collaborations!


VLSI lab printers FIXME
Available for all VLSI users.

hostname: elt75pr.to.infn.it
printer: Xerox Phaser 3250
IP address: 193.205.65.175
location: VLSI lab - old building, first floor (A31)

hostname:
printer:
IP address:
location: printer room - old building, first floor (??)


ALICE printers
Available for ALICE users only.

hostname: ali64pr.to.infn.it
printer: HP LaserJet 4700
IP address: 193.205.66.64
location: ALICE lab - old building, first floor (A4)

hostname: ali28pr.to.infn.it
printer: HP LaserJet 2420DN
IP address: 193.205.66.28
location: printer room - old building, first floor


CMS printers
Available for CMS users only.

hostname: toh8pr.to.infn.it
printer: Kyocera FS-9530DN
IP address: 192.84.137.238
location: printer room - new building, second floor (B22)

hostname: tos7pr.to.infn.it
printer: HP LaserJet 5M
IP address: 192.84.137.127
location: CMS centre - new building, second floor (B38)

More details about Kyocera FS-9530DN configuration can be found at http://personalpages.to.infn.it/~cotto/kyocera/.


Last update: Luca Pacher - Oct 28, 2013