Scope

This page contains general information about RDS

Purpose of RDS

The purpose of RDS is to provide users with access to high-performance computing infrastructure running Windows Server operating systems.
RDS provides users with access to high-performance computing infrastructure running Windows Server operating systems. This provides a graphical interface similar to that used on Windows desktop systems.
It sits between a standard desktop computer and high-performance computing clusters such as Euler.
The goal is to provide users with computing power without the learning curve associated with command line interfaces, while also being able to run most Windows programs.

Hardware

RDS is hosted on Polycloud at the ETH on-premises data centre; some VMs are hosted in the Centrum and others at the Hönggerberg. This includes the core node and scientific application server, the MATLAB and Office remote application server, and the Scientific-Remote application server.

You can find some specs below if you are interested.

Maintenance

RDS has a fixed maintenance schedule involving approximately four hours of downtime each month. This usually occurs on the second Sunday of the month between 17:00 and 21:00.

Although unscheduled downtime can happen, it is usually communicated at least three days in advance.

VM Ressources

The total resources for RDS over Polycloud are:

400 vCPUs, 3.5 TB of memory and 20 TB of disk space.

CPU: The current CPU model is: Intel® Xeon® Gold 6442Y.

Session Hosts

Scientific Application Servers

6 Sessions hosts with the following specifications:

• CPU: 24 Cores
• RAM: 256 GB
• SSD: 1TB C: Drive
• 500GB Scratch E: Drive

Matlab Servers

2 Sessions hosts with the following specifications:

• CPU: 18 Cores
• RAM: 256GB
• SSD: 500GB C: Drive

Standard Servers

Standard session hosts for Departement/Institute specific needs and/or remote apps
Specifications:

• CPU: 8 Cores
• RAM: 32GB