A computing cluster is a system of powerful servers interconnected by a high-performance network, as shown in Figure 11.1. This environment can be provisioned on-premises or in the cloud:

Figure 11.1 – A computing cluster

The computing power provided by these machines is combined to solve complex problems or to execute highly intensive computing tasks. A computing cluster is also known as a high-performance computing (HPC) system.

Each server has powerful computing resources such as multiple CPUs and GPUs, fast memory devices, ultra-fast disks, and special network adapters. Moreover, a computing cluster often has a parallel filesystem, which provides high transfer I/O rates.

Although not formally defined, we conventionally use the term “cluster” to reference environments comprised of four machines at least. Some computing clusters have a half-dozen machines, while others have more than two or three...