System Requirements for HPC Pack 2016

  • Article

The following sections list the basic system requirements to install and run Microsoft® HPC Pack 2016. The latest version is HPC Pack 2016 Update 2.

Hardware requirements

Important

To improve the performance of a cluster with a large number of nodes or that is running compute-intensive workloads, configure the head node with multiple processor cores, additional RAM, and multiple disks.

Head node role

Processor (x64-based):

  • Minimum: 4 cores

  • Recommended: 8 cores or more

RAM:

  • Minimum: 8 GB

  • Recommended: 16 GB or more

Available disk space:

  • Minimum: 50 GB

  • Recommended: 100 GB or more

Other node roles

Processor (x64-based):

  • Minimum: 4 cores

  • Recommended: 4 cores or more

RAM:

  • Minimum: 2 GB

  • Recommended: 4 GB or more

Available disk space:

  • Minimum: 50 GB

  • Recommended: 80 GB or more

Network adapters

  • The number of network adapters that you install on the nodes in your cluster depends on the network topology that you choose for your cluster.
  • You can deploy your HPC cluster with only one network adapter on each node, but you will be limited to only one possible network topology (all nodes only on an enterprise network). An additional network adapter on the head node will expand your options to a second possible network topology to choose from (compute nodes isolated on a private network).
  • You should also evaluate the possibility of installing a low-latency and high-throughput application network for your HPC cluster. This may be advantageous for running certain kinds of jobs on the cluster, such as message passing interface (MPI) applications. This network will typically require installing specialized network adapters on the nodes and specialized networking hardware.
  • For more information about the different HPC cluster network topologies, see Understanding HPC Cluster Network Topologies.

Software requirements

Operating system requirements

The following table shows the operating system requirements of HPC Pack 2016 for the different cluster roles.

Important

Unless explicitly listed below, an operating system is not supported to run HPC Pack 2016 for a cluster role.

Role Operating system requirement
Head node Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2
Compute node Windows Server 2019 (only for HPC Pack 2016 Update 3), Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) broker node Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012
Workstation node Windows 10, Windows 8.1
Unmanaged server node Windows Server 2019 (only for HPC Pack 2016 Update 3), Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Azure node (worker role instance) Windows Server 2019 (only for HPC Pack 2016 Update 3), Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 OS Family
Linux node Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0 - 7.6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.7 - 6.10, CentOS-based 7.0 - 7.6, CentOS-based 6.7 - 6.10, Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
Client (computer with only client utilities installed) Windows Server 2019 (only for HPC Pack 2016 Update 3), Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 SP1.

Operating system language

You can install HPC Pack 2016 in one of the following languages: English, Japanese, or Simplified Chinese. The language you select for installation of HPC Pack on the head node or another cluster node must correspond to the operating system language on that node.

There is no language restriction for the operating system of a computer that is used only as a client workstation (on which only the HPC Pack client utilities are installed). However, the HPC Pack user interfaces will appear in the language that you select for installation of HPC Pack.

Microsoft SQL Server

To host the required cluster databases, HPC Pack 2016 requires and supports Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and later versions.

  • By default, HPC Pack 2016 installs SQL Server Express 2016 on the head node and creates the HPC databases on the head node.
  • To install the HPC databases on a remote server, that server must be running the Standard or Enterprise edition of SQL Server 2012 or a later version. Remote database installations with SQL Server can be configured for high availability with AlwaysOn failover cluster instances or availability groups.
  • Using Azure SQL Database is also supported

.NET Framework 4.6.1 (or later)

Microsoft HPC Pack 2016 has a dependency on Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1. By default, in the operating systems earlier than Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10, .NET Framework 4.6.1 or later is not installed.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 is contained in the HPC Pack 2016 setup package, and the HPC Pack setup application attempts to install it when you install HPC Pack 2016. However, the installation of .NET Framework 4.6.1 may require some updates to be installed. For example, update KB2919355 is required before installing Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.1 on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. If the corresponding updates are not installed, the installation of .NET Framework 4.6.1 will fail.

Microsoft Azure subscription

If you plan to add Azure worker role nodes, Azure IaaS nodes or Azure Batch pools to your HPC cluster, you must obtain an Azure account and subscription or have an existing Azure subscription in which you can configure cloud services, storage accounts, and other Azure features for your HPC cluster. For more information about Azure subscriptions and using the Azure portal, visit the Azure website.