Univa Rolls Out New Version of Grid Engine

univa logoToday Univa released version 8.2.0 of Univa Grid Engine, the popular distributed resource management software platform.

This version of Univa Grid Engine is a result of the feedback and consumer-driven requests we have received from clients since Univa became the sole commercial provider of Grid Engine last fall,’’ said Bill Bryce, Vice-President of Products at Univa Corporation. “The 8.2.0 version contains 215 updates and integrations. These new features enhance our customers’ ability to maximize the value of their existing compute resources by distributing workload and optimizing limited application licenses, ultimately reducing the time to market for new products.”

Univa Grid Engine 8.2.0 adds new functionality for improved scalability, performance and resource control for small and large clusters. Linux control groups limit resource usage and provide accounting, as well as control of managed resources. Also, the ability to improve scalability for all job queries and client requests, while maintaining scheduler efficiency, has been accomplished by adding a Qmaster thread pool. Finally, Univa Grid Engine natively supports Windows* operating systems, no emulation or compatibility libraries required.

In today’s compute environment companies need to make the most of system resources,” said Kim Akers, general manager, Microsoft Corp. “We are pleased that Univa Corporation has enhanced Univa Grid Engine to include native Windows support and enable our mutual customers to run massive volumes of workload via Microsoft-powered workstations.”

Key features of 8.2.0 include:

  • Native Windows Support –Windows-powered workstations now have the ability to run on a Univa Grid Engine cluster both as a client and a server running jobs.
  • cgroups – Linux control groups provide fine-grained resource control over memory, CPUs and processes.
  • Read-Only Qmaster Thread – dramatically improves the performance by creating a thread pool and optional sessions to run queries 2x faster on clusters.
  • DRMAA v2.0 – implementation of a new standard to improve application integration and control. Integration with Cray XC30.
  • Extended Job Accounting – several enhancements to fulfill gaps in time stamps, job state and job usage data.
  • Various enhancements and improvements such as node annotation functionality, easy mechanism to drain clusters for maintenance, and more.
  • Support for Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2004, 2003 R2, 2008, 2008R2, Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, Enterprise, Windows Vista Enterprise, Ultimate, Windows 8 and 8.1 Professional, and Enterprise.

A free trial of Univa Grid Engine is available for download.