System Requirements for Microsoft HPC Pack 2012 R2 and HPC Pack 2012
Applies To: Microsoft HPC Pack 2012, Microsoft HPC Pack 2012 R2
The following sections list the basic system requirements to install and run Microsoft® HPC Pack 2012 R2 and Microsoft® HPC Pack 2012.
Hardware requirements
Software requirements
Microsoft Azure subscription
Hardware requirements
The minimum hardware requirements for HPC Pack 2012 R2 and HPC Pack 2012 depend on the requirements for the operating system on which you install it. For example, to install HPC Pack 2012 R2 and create a single head node for an HPC cluster on a computer that is running Windows Server® 2012 R2, see the minimum hardware requirements for Windows Server 2012 R2. In the cases where the hardware recommendations for installing HPC Pack on a head node computer differ from the general hardware requirements for Windows Server, they are noted in the following subsections.
For more information about installing Windows Server, including minimum hardware requirements, see the following:
Minimum system requirements for other Windows operating systems are also available on Microsoft websites.
Important
To improve the performance of a cluster with a large number of nodes or that is running compute-intensive workloads, configure the head node with multiple processor cores, additional RAM, and multiple disks. HPC Pack 2012 R2 and HPC Pack 2012 can address up to 64 cores on a single computer, if the operating system supports it.
Processor (x64-based):
Minimum: 1.4 GHz
Recommended: 2 GHz or faster
RAM:
Minimum: 1 GB
Recommended: 2 GB or more
Available disk space:
Minimum: 50 GB
Recommended: 80 GB or more
Drive:
- DVD-ROM drive, if you will be using DVD media to install HPC Pack 2012.
Network adapters:
The number of network adapters that you install on the nodes in your cluster depends on the network topology that you choose for your cluster.
You can deploy your HPC cluster with only one network adapter on each node, but you will be limited to only one possible network topology (all nodes only on an enterprise network). An additional network adapter on the head node will expand your options to a second possible network topology to choose from (compute nodes isolated on a private network).
You should also evaluate the possibility of installing a low-latency and high-throughput application network for your HPC cluster. This may be advantageous for running certain kinds of jobs on the cluster, such as message passing interface (MPI) applications. This network will typically require installing specialized network adapters on the nodes and specialized networking hardware.
For more information about the different HPC cluster network topologies, see Appendix 1: HPC Cluster Networking, in the Getting Started guide.
Software requirements
Operating system requirements
The following table shows the Windows operating system requirements of HPC Pack 2012 R2 and HPC Pack 2012 for the different cluster roles. The operating system requirements of the two versions only differ in that HPC Pack 2012 R2 additionally supports Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 for certain cluster roles.
Important
Unless explicitly listed below, an operating system is not supported to run HPC Pack for a cluster role.
| Role | Operating system requirement |
|---|---|
| Head node | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 Installation on Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. |
| Compute node | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation on Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 is supported. However, HPC Services for Excel is not supported on the Server Core installation option. |
| Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) broker node | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 Installation on Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 is supported. However, HPC Services for Excel is not supported on the Server Core installation option. |
| Workstation node | Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 Installation on Windows 10 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2 Update 3. Installation on Windows 8.1 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. |
| Unmanaged server node | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation on Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. The Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 is supported. However, HPC Services for Excel is not supported on the Server Core installation option. |
| Azure node | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation on Windows Server 2012 R2 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. |
| Client (computer with only client utilities installed) | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista Installation on Windows 10 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2 Update 3. Installation on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 8.1 is supported starting in HPC Pack 2012 R2. |
Operating system language
You can install HPC Pack 2012 in one of the following languages: English, Japanese, or Simplified Chinese. The language you select for installation of HPC Pack on the head node or another cluster node must correspond to the operating system language on that node.
There is no language restriction for the operating system of a computer that is used only as a client workstation (on which only the HPC Pack client utilities are installed). However, the HPC Pack user interfaces will appear in the language that you select for installation of HPC Pack.
Microsoft SQL Server
To host the required cluster databases, HPC Pack 2012 R2 or HPC Pack 2012 requires and supports Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (supported starting with HPC Pack 2012 R2 Update 1), Microsoft SQL Server 2012, or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2.
Note
- By default, HPC Pack 2012 R2 starting with Update 1 installs SQL Server Express 2014 on the head node and creates the HPC databases on the head node. Earlier versions of HPC Pack 2012 R2 and HPC Pack 2012 install SQL Server Express 2012 by default.
- To install the HPC databases on a remote server, that server must be running the Standard or Enterprise edition of SQL Server 2014 (supported starting with HPC Pack 2012 R2 Update 1), SQL Server 2012, or SQL Server 2008 R2. Remote database installations with SQL Server 2014 can be configured for high availability with AlwaysOn failover cluster instances or availability groups.
.NET Framework 3.5
.NET Framework 3.5 must be installed on the head node computer for a default installation of HPC Pack 2012. This is required to install Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Express on the head node to configure the HPC databases for the cluster. For considerations about deploying the cluster with HPC databases either on the head node computer or on one or more remote servers, see Step 1: Prepare for Your Deployment in the Getting Started guide.
By default in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012, .NET Framework 3.5 is not installed. If you do not plan to use a remote database with HPC Pack, or if your head node does not have Internet access during Setup, install .NET Framework 3.5 manually before you attempt to install HPC Pack 2012 R2 or HPC Pack 2012. You can install .NET Framework 3.5 on the head node computer by using the Add Roles and Feature Wizard GUI or a command-line tool. For more information, see Install .NET Framework 3.5 and other features on-demand.
Microsoft Azure subscription
If you plan to add Azure nodes to your HPC cluster, you must obtain an Azure account and subscription or have an existing Azure subscription in which you can configure hosted services, storage accounts, and other Azure features for your HPC cluster. For more information about Azure subscriptions and using the Azure portal, visit the Azure website.