computer science

OpenLava

OpenLava is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand OpenLava rather than just read about it. In short: OpenLava is a workload job scheduler for a cluster of computers. OpenLava was based from the last revision of Platform Lava, which was discontinued in 2011.

Key takeaways

OpenLava belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect OpenLava to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of OpenLava from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

OpenLava is a workload job scheduler for a cluster of computers. OpenLava was based from the last revision of Platform Lava, which was discontinued in 2011. Its configuration file syntax, application program interface (API), and command-line interface (CLI) have been kept unchanged. Therefore, OpenLava is mostly compatible with Platform LSF. OpenLava was based on an early version of LSF, which itself was based on the Utopia research project at the University of Toronto.

History In 2007, Platform Computing and Red Hat (both are now part of IBM) jointly offered the Red Hat HPC Solution, which integrates Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Platform's Open Cluster Stack (OCS). As the core of Platform OCS, Platform released Platform Lava 1.0, which is a simplified version of Platform LSF 4.2 code, licensed under GNU General Public License v2. Platform subsequently marketed OCS with Dell, Arrow Electronics, and Intel's Intel Cluster Ready. Platform Lava had no additional releases after v1.0 and was discontinued in 2011. In June 2011, OpenLava 1.0 code was committed to GitHub.

Commercial support In 2014, a number of former Platform Computing employees founded Teraproc Inc., which contributed development and provided commercial support for OpenLava. Commercially supported OpenLava contains add-on features than the community based OpenLava project.

IBM Lawsuit In October 2016, IBM filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement and trade secrets misappropriation against Teraproc. The complaint accused some of the company's founders of taking “confidential and proprietary source code" for IBM's Spectrum LSF product when they left, which was then used as the basis of the competitive product OpenLava. David Bigagli, the TeraProc employee who started the OpenLava project, posted a notice on GitHub announcing that downloads for OpenLava had been disabled because of a DMCA takedown notice sent by IBM's lawyers. Bigagli later announced that the source code for OpenLava 3.0 and 4.0 would be taken down, while the source code of 2.2 would be restored in order to regain the GitHub repository and the openlava.org website, while claiming that the DMCA claim is fraudulent. On September 18, 2018, the US Courts found in favor of IBM and issued a permanent injunction against Teraproc and its agents.

Post lawsuit A number of forks derived from the OpenLava 2.0 codebase, which is not alleged in the IBM lawsuit, emerged after the lawsuit.

See also List of free and open-source software packages IBM Spectrum LSF GNU Queue

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with OpenLava

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what OpenLava claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to OpenLava before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about OpenLava ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of OpenLava

In research: OpenLava appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses OpenLava in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: OpenLava is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cluster computing, Copyright infringement of software, Distributed computing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for OpenLava outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study OpenLava in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what OpenLava means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain OpenLava out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is OpenLava in simple terms?

OpenLava is a workload job scheduler for a cluster of computers. OpenLava was based from the last revision of Platform Lava, which was discontinued in 2011.

Why does OpenLava matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study OpenLava?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on OpenLava.