The NRC intends to award a sole source purchase order for an Aspen Systems Linx Cluster.  The NRC currently uses an Aspen Systems Linux Cluster to compute fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena using CFD codes. These codes require significant computational power and can run simulations for up to 1 year at a time. The system is comprised of off the shelf industry standard computer hardware organized into a single computation engine by proprietary software developed by Aspen Systems, Inc. The NRC Staff have been utilizing this system for over 4 years and have obtained the technical knowledge and experience necessary for the system administration, system operation, and system maintenance using the Aspen cluster management software. This system was initially purchased from Aspen Systems through an open procurement where Aspen Systems provided the best system at the lowest cost. The current acquisition is an upgrade to the existing system which still has useful capacity and will be maintained for a few more years for use by NRC staff. The upgrade to this system should be performed by Aspen Systems, Inc. since it is their system and uses their own proprietary software to integrate the components for system administration and operation.

The RES CFD Linux cluster is comprised of approximately 80 industry standard servers (generic white box, industry standard servers, no specific model numbers, multiple variations in specifications, custom built) connected together using both Infiniband gigabit Ethernet switches. All units are housed in industry standard computer racks. All servers are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 6.6 and are administered using Aspen Systems Inc. A123 cluster management software.

 

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