AWS Parallel Cluster
HPC cluster builder tool
An open-source tool that builds and manages HPC clusters on AWS from a single config file: it creates a head node, auto-scaling compute nodes, the Slurm scheduler and a shared file system.
- Cost$$ Medium
- Difficulty●●●●●
- Costs money when idle?A little
- Self-managed
- In examsSAA
Think of it asLike an assembly kit with ready-made blueprints: feed in the blueprint and out comes an entire supercomputer room.
When to use it
✓ Use it when
Running traditional HPC workloads (Slurm, MPI) while keeping control of the cluster yourself.
✗ Avoid it when
You don't want to operate Slurm yourself → Parallel Computing Service; you only need batch container jobs → Batch.
Common uses
- CFD and weather simulation
- Large-scale genomic analysis
- Scientific research requiring MPI
What does it cost?
- Pricing model: The tool is free; you pay for the EC2, FSx, EBS… the cluster uses.
⚠️ Cost traps
Forgetting to delete the cluster leaves the head node and FSx for Lustre costing money nonstop.
