HPC Cluster Management Experience¶
Using Bright Cluster Manager¶
I have 2+ years of hands-on experience working with Bright Cluster Manager in a large-scale HPC production environment.
My role involved installation, configuration, provisioning, and operational management of a 1300+ node HPC cluster, including CPU, GPU, diskless, and login nodes.
Bright Cluster Manager Installation & Initial Setup¶
- Installed Bright Cluster Manager on the management (head) node
- Performed initial cluster setup and base configurations
- Configured:
- Management node
- Core cluster services
- Authentication and basic policies
Node Category Design & Management¶
Designed and configured multiple node categories based on workload and usage.
Diskless Compute Nodes¶
- PXE-based provisioning
- Diskless boot configuration
- Optimized for high-performance compute workloads
GPU Nodes¶
- Dedicated GPU node category
- Installed:
- NVIDIA drivers
- CUDA libraries
- Created and maintained GPU-specific OS images
Login Nodes¶
- Separate login node category
- Optimized for:
- User access
- Job submission
- Development activities
Each node category was managed independently using custom configurations and images.
Image Management & Provisioning¶
- Created separate OS images for each node category
- Customized images based on:
- Node role
- Hardware type
- Software requirements
- Pushed images to nodes using Bright Cluster Manager provisioning
- Verified provisioning status and resolved image-related issues
Network Configuration¶
- Configured management network for all cluster nodes
- Set up InfiniBand network for high-speed interconnect
- Managed:
- Network interfaces
- Node-to-network mapping
- Category-based network configuration
- Applied network settings consistently across node groups
Bulk Node Addition & Automation¶
- Added all compute nodes at once using shell scripting
- Automated:
- Node definitions
- MAC address mapping
- Category assignment
- Reduced manual effort and provisioning errors
Node-Specific Configuration¶
- Applied category-specific configurations:
- NVIDIA drivers and CUDA for GPU images
- Performance tuning for compute nodes
- Validated:
- Provisioning success
- Driver installation
- Network connectivity
Rack & Data Center Layout Management¶
- Created rack configurations in Bright Cluster Manager
- Added:
- Racks
- Servers
- Switches
- Defined:
- Server positions in racks
- Switch positions
- Physical layout mapping
- Maintained accurate data center visualization
Switch Configuration¶
- Added and configured network switches
- Associated switches with racks and nodes
- Maintained logical and physical network topology
Monitoring & Hardware Troubleshooting¶
- Continuously monitored cluster and node health
- Tracked:
- Node status
- Hardware alerts
- Sensor data (fans, power, temperature)
- Identified and reported:
- Hardware failures
- Disk issues
- Network and node boot problems
- Assisted in proactive issue resolution to reduce downtime
Key Skills & Technologies¶
- Bright Cluster Manager (Installation & Administration)
- Large-scale cluster provisioning (1300+ nodes)
- Diskless node configuration
- GPU cluster management
- NVIDIA drivers and CUDA
- InfiniBand and management network configuration
- Image-based OS management
- Shell scripting and automation
- Rack and data center layout management
- Hardware monitoring and troubleshooting