GRAPPOLO a supercomputer in a super box is a project conceived and developed from Spatial Ecology to teach cluster computation using a grid engine. We have collaborated with Makernow (a fablab in Cornwall) to make it portable. More specifically, GRAPPOLO is micro cluster computer replicating the functioning of the biggest cluster computer facility in the south-west UK. This tool is similar to the Raspberry pi cluster developed at Southampton University but is aimed towards teaching BigData processing for Geographic Information Systems methods rather than raw computation. It is very low cost ( ~ £140), portable and a perfect replica of an operating system running on a true high performance cluster computer.
General introduction to GRAPPOLO hardware and grid engines.
Installing an operating system and grid engine on a cluster of computer
Building a box using open source software and a laser-cut for making GRAPPOLO portable and safe.
Start using GRAPPOLO and learn how to process data in a grid of computers.
Grass data processing in HPC – learn the variable and environmental setting of grass for processing data in a grid engine.
Find out more on our Wiki
Grappolo was recently used for GIS demonstration on sea-levels rise under climate change scenario and was elected as best project by the students attending the annual Environment & Sustainability Day hosted at the University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus at the Environment and Sustainability Institute – ESI. Over 100 Year 10 students from ten Cornish schools, took part in a range of activities and workshops whose aim was to identify the single greatest challenge the local environment faces. Students in the ESI used Grappolo and Qgis software to model by how much sea-levels would have to rise before their school is submerged. Images by Matt Jessop.