Intel has just released a program called Intel Cluster Ready. The initiative is an attempt to create a standard platform for ISVs to deliver software on clusters. It includes a piece of software called Cluster Checker that once run can certify the cluster environment (so that ISVs have a predictable software environment).

While this is a laudable goal, I wonder if it too Intel centric? A brief perusal of the specification seems to include and "Intel Wall" (Intel Compiler and MPI) that is required to meet the specification. I have not had time to read all the documents fully or try the software, so perhaps it is a bit more flexible.

Of course, it is not unreasonable to expect the specification to be Intel centric, but clusters, like open source, are about choice. Would an "Open Cluster" effort be more valuable to the community? What do you think?

Name: Robert Monkman

Comment: You raise good questions. We were briefed on this program and asked the same questions re: Intel software. The Intel Software, we were assured was simply there as a "reference implementation" for that piece of the puzzle. You can absolutely have MPICH v Intel MPI, for example. Naturally, a reference implementation on something proposed by Intel would include in some parts Intel "reference" building blocks. Not a requirement however. One of the valuable goals we saw was creating ways to avoid different apps clobbering each other- a very real problem. Bob Monkman Penguin Computing

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