GPU Computing in Windows HPC Server 2008
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This procedural white paper introduces a new feature in Windows HPC Server 2008 that enables users to run general-purpose computation on graphics-processor units (GPGPU) programs through the Job Scheduler.
The Windows Server operating system includes tools to help administrators understand and monitor session usage. With the Windows Task Manager, administrators can add a column showing which session each process is running in. In Windows HPC Server 2008, users can specify if their job should start in either a console session or in a terminal server session.
Using the new command-line HPC_ATTACHTOCONSOLE variable in Windows HPC Server 2008 a user can specify that a GPGPU program be started in the console session, which is necessary if the GPU is used for acceleration. The GPU is accessed from the video driver, which is only loaded in the console session. Therefore, programs which rely on access to the video driver must be run in the console session.
To submit GPGPU jobs to the Job Scheduler, the administrator should install and set up Windows HPC Server 2008 and Microsoft HPC Pack 2008 on the cluster, install the GPGPU-enabled video drivers on the nodes, create a logged on local console session on the nodes, and then submit jobs to the Job Scheduler.
The administrator can use the new Job Scheduler Groups feature of Windows HPC Server 2008 to ensure that submitted jobs go to compute nodes that contain GPU hardware. When a new job is created, the administrator can change settings in the New Job dialog box to specify that the job only be scheduled on compute nodes that belong to the GPGPU nodes group.
