5.1) The Need For A Batch System

On connecting to an HPC system you will be connected to a login/front end node. This will provide an interface to set up application runs, compile code, transfer files and do simple analysis work. The exact details of what is allowed will depend on specific policies in place on the HPC cluster. These nodes are shared between all connected users and will be quickly overwhelmed if they are used for regular computation.

With multiple users, complex resources and resource requirements there is a need to manage and organise tasks and assign suitable resources (run time, cores, memory etc.), and also to set priorities. Batch schedulers or batch systems provide a method for accessing the compute power behind HPC systems. In addition, batch systems ensure that the system resources are divided appropriately among users and that the overall utilisation of the system remains high, according to specific scheduling policies.