[Starcluster] Cluster with mixed NODE_INSTANCE_TYPE's

[Justin Riley]

Hi Jay,

Since you're just wanting a single m2.xlarge instance and 4 c1.xlarge instances you could do the following:

[cluster mycluster]
cluster_size = 5
master_instance_type = m2.xlarge
node_instance_type = c1.xlarge
....

This template will use the m2.xlarge type to launch the master, and the c1.xlarge type for the 4 worker nodes.

We do have support for even more fine grained control of node instance types (thanks to Dan Yamins) if it's needed, however, I haven't yet documented this functionality. Let me know if the above doesn't meet your needs and I'll fill you in.

~Justin
________________________________________
From: starcluster-bounces at MIT.EDU [starcluster-bounces at MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Hesselberth, Jay [JAY.HESSELBERTH at ucdenver.edu]
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 3:30 PM
To: starcluster at mit.edu
Subject: [Starcluster] Cluster with mixed NODE_INSTANCE_TYPE's

I have an application where I'm running 1000's of jobs with small memory requirements (e.g. ~500 Mb / job), but there is a periodic job that needs substantially more RAM (~8 Gb).  I've been running clusters with c1.xlarge instances to maximize throughput of the small jobs, but these don't have the necessary RAM.

I was thinking it would be nice to specify clusters with mixed NODE_INSTANCE_TYPES; e.g. configuring a cluster with 4 c1.xlarge instances for throughput and 1 m2.xlarge instance to handle large RAM jobs.  I don't see how this is currently possible (I'm using the experimental starcluster branch).   Is a feature that is planned for the future?

Thanks,
Jay Hesselberth
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