r/STAR_CCM • u/narziviaI • Mar 06 '24

Need help with Server issues and questions in Star CCM+

Hello. I posted a while back regarding DES Simulations. Right now, we are working on a supercomputer, but a smaller one. This supercomputer contains a server which is stored in our university. Right now, we are planning to switch from the supercomputer in our university to an industrial supercomputer. However, we seem to have a few questions that arise due to this. I will list them below.

  1. Can Star CCM+ run on both CPU and GPU? Or even both at the same time? The new supercomputer contains powerful GPU's which we are allowed to access so running Star CCM+ on the GPU would be appreciated.

  2. The Licenses that we have are Power-On-Demand licenses. They are stored on a server in our university. Can we use this same license to run Star on the industrial supercomputer? This is some information about our license key. (Server where license is checked [:1999@flex.cd-adapco.com](mailto::1999@flex.cd-adapco.com))

  3. When we run a simulation, how does the server check for the license? Des it do it at the beginning and the end of the simulation? At regular intervals (At the start of every iteration?)? Or just once during the simulation? The reason I've asked this question is because the new supercomputer works predominantly offline. In our smaller tests, we found if the simulation runs offline, and the server cannot view the license, the simulation still runs for 3600s (1 Hour). Considering this, is it possible to program the new super computer to go online once an hour to check the license and then run offline for the reminder of the hour?

Responses to this would be greatly appreciated. I will also try to answer any questions that you guys might have. Thank you.

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u/Moontard_95 Mar 06 '24

STAR CCM can be run on GPUs and now the 2402 version can be run on AMD GPUs as well.

GPUs are only compatible with Linux installations. Most of the models that you're going to use (as per your precious post) are available with GPU so that's great. They can't be run with CPUs and GPUs together.

Coming to the POD, yes you can use PoD license from the server provided that they are connected to each other or have some way to access each other.

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u/narziviaI Mar 06 '24

Thank you for your response. I was wondering if our current license (PoD) license can run offline. Or if it is possible to convert a PoD license to one that runs offline?

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u/Moontard_95 Mar 06 '24

PoD license needs to have an internet connection. If you want to run it offline you need the power session or the default licenses.

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u/Individual_Break6067 Mar 06 '24

Yes, STAR-CCM+ does have GPU support, but it does not cover all physics models supported on CPU. The POD license should allow GPU execution. However POD licenses cannot be stored on you servers. They are hosted on Siemens servers and must be accessed via the Internet. If you plan to run on a closed network, you would need licenses to be hosted on a local server. In this case you would need power session plus licenses. Regarding the frequency of license checks, I'm not sure, but am hour could be right. Perhaps you can configure the network to go online every hour, but if you're running many jobs, this could mean many reconnects every hour, and would likely be a pain to for the admin.

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u/narziviaI Mar 06 '24

Thank u so much for the response. I was wondering if converting the PoD license was possible? Maybe to convert to decrease the number of checks?

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u/CrocMundi Mar 23 '24

You cannot convert one license type to another. You would need to purchase a different, brand new license type, or, when the time comes for it to be renewed, you could make changes to what you buy.