openfoam Instllation in workstation
 

Hi All,

I am planning to order a Dell Precision Workstation T7400 nSeries, Quad Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5405 (2.00GHz,2X6M L2,1333), Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS v5 for EM64T 64bit system w/ 1 YR RHN, w/ Media. I would like to know whether there would be any problems in the installation of OpenFOAM in these machines. I would like to confirm this before ordering them. I would like to know if I have to be aware of any particular issue. Can anyone throw some light on this.

I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

Regards

Vishal Nandigana

Hi ,

OpenFOAM is quite versatile in terms of computer architecture (from netbooks to supercomputers). So my guess it that it be possible to install OF on this machine.

The precompilied binaries may or may not work. However you can download the source code & compile yourself. You might have the typical beginner installation issues: missing dependencies-libraries, etc. They are generally resolvable. Else you can also create a dual boot with OpenSuSE or Ubuntu (as there is lots of threads dedicated to these OS).

Rishi

Thanks Rishi,

I only concern I have is can OpenFOAM be installed in RedHat machines without any problem, further in the specifications of the work station I saw that the gcc version is 4.1.1, but OpenFOAM wants 4.3.? to operate right.. so can it be insalled without any hassels..

Kindly throw some light on both the queries

Thanks

Regards

Vishal

Hi Vishal,

1- OpenFOAM can be installed on the machine you mentioned.
2- Gcc version is not a big issue, since OF has a thirdparty folder with the required gcc version. When you source OF files, the correct version is selected by OF. Hence both gcc can co-exist on the same OS.

-- Problem--
If you want to use OF, then you will have used to some challenging moments everyday!
I guess nobody can offer a guarantee if things will work perfectly: out-of-box.
You might have to do some tweaking to get things right. Download some missing packages. Compiliing some stuff, etc...

However there is hope at the end of the road. Dont worry. Buy this or any other system which offers you value for money & reliability. I would not be bothered too much about the OS, unless you are sys-admin or want to ensure compatibilty with other softwares (e.g. Fluent, CFX, etc) which are available for limited OS.

Rishi

Hi Rishi,

Thanks a lot for the advise. The only purpose I am planning to buy a workstation is to install OpenFOAM and run multiple simulations.. Now, I am confident in purchasing one, as you have mentioned that the problems if occur in its installation can be sorted out...

Regards

Vishal