IBM Platform Computing

IBM Platform Desktop Harvesting Software

IBM Platform Desktop Harvesting software for IBM Platform Symphony can harness idle cycles from desktops and add them to the grid. By automatically adapting resources to meet demands for compute and data intensive distributed applications, run times are reduced and service levels are improved, without additional capital spending.

The Challenge

Never enough cycles available

For many large enterprises, grid computing is the ideal solution to handle large-scale jobs like analyzing big data. But with increasingly restrictive economic pressures, organizations like yours are looking for better ways to improve IT performance without incurring the large capital expenses required for infrastructure expansion. That means making better use of resources already in place instead of buying more.

The Solution

The answer could be right on a desk

IBM® Platform™ Desktop Harvesting software for IBM Platform Symphony enables a pool of available idle desktops to be aggregated as part of the Platform Symphony grid, providing additional capacity when desktops are idle. Unused or underutilized desktops are automatically opened and become candidates to run Platform Symphony tasks. Platform Desktop Harvesting is an optional add-on available for both the Standard and Advanced editions of Platform Symphony.

To eliminate any loss of productivity for desktop users, Platform Desktop Harvesting software allows a multitude of threshold options for your configuration, so desktop CPU cycles are only available to the grid when you choose.

The Benefits

Get more resources with less spending

Once you've configured which desktops you want to make available when they're idle or underutilized, Platform Desktop Harvesting can add them to increase the compute resources of the Platform Symphony grid. And you get the benefits.

• Maximizes use of available cycles both on and off peak hours
• Avoids interfering with desktop user activities
• Completes time-critical workloads more quickly
• Increases overall cluster efficiency
• Simplifies administration; policies are applied as one to a group of harvestable resources

The Specifics

You choose the definition of “idle”

Platform Symphony Desktop Harvesting delivers total control of which desktops are used and gives you complete flexibility to define when desktops are idle and available to the Platform Symphony grid.

• User idle time: In this scenario, when a desktop screensaver is invoked due to lack of use, the desktop can become available to the grid for other processing duties.
• Adjusted CPU utilization: When the CPU usage level reaches the threshold you define, it becomes a candidate for addition to the grid.
• CPU idle time: Used in conjunction with the function above, this setting allows you to configure a period of time to wait after the CPU utilization threshold has been met before becoming available to the grid.
• Exempt processes: This allows you to exclude a number of processes from the CPU utilization threshold (for example, a virus scan). The availability for use on the grid can take precedence over the desktop process.

Read the datasheet

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