This article outlines the process of running a large simulation job across several computers on a local network or cluster. This feature is available for FDTD solver and varFDTD solver in MODE.
Note:
- Machines should be the same operating system and the same version of Lumerical.
- Configure your system first, as shown in the Configuring your cluster for Ansys Lumerical page.
- Before trying to distribute a single simulation across multiple computers, ensure that simulations run properly on each computer individually.
Setting the Resource Configuration
- Create or open your simulation project
- Open "Resources"
- Specify the Hostname or IP of the machine where you want to remotely distribute your jobs, separated by a comma (,)
- Indicate the number of processes for each of the machines, separated by a comma (,).
Default job launching preset
Windows:
- Use "Remote: Intel MPI" as the job launching preset. See this article for details.
- Select "Custom" for custom MPI installations. e.g. clusters or HPC that have a preconfigured MPI implementation.
- Do Not Use "Remote: Microsoft MPI" or "Local Computer" as the job launching preset.
Linux:
- Use "Remote: MPICH2" to test with the include MPICH2 runtime. Note: this runtime is outdated and is not as performant as Intel MPI or OpenMPI (see "Custom" bellow).
- Select "Custom" if for custom MPI installations e.g. clusters or HPC that have a preconfigured MPI implementation.
- Do Not Use "Local Computer" as the job launching preset.
Calculating how many solver licenses are required
The number of solver/accelerator/HPC licenses required to run your jobs depends on the number of cores used, the number of concurrent simulations, the type of job, and the type of license you have purchased. See the Understanding solver, accelerator, and HPC license consumption page for details.
See also
Compute resource configuration use cases
Resource configuration elements and controls
Lumerical solve, accelerator, and Ansys HPC license consumption
Concurrent parametric computing