Three primary operating systems specialized for High-Performance Computing (HPC) and compute nodes

1. Linux-Based Operating Systems

• Examples: CentOS Stream, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu Server, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
• Key Features: Linux dominates HPC due to its stability, scalability, and support for parallel processing. It is the most common OS for HPC clusters, with distributions like CentOS Stream explicitly used in clusters (e.g., CHTC’s HPC cluster) . Libraries and frameworks such as MPI and OpenMP are optimized for Linux environments .

1. Windows Server

• Use Case: Primarily in Microsoft HPC Pack environments, supporting roles like head nodes, compute nodes, and WCF broker nodes.
• Key Features: Windows Server is used for clusters requiring integration with Windows-specific applications or hybrid workflows. For example, HPC Pack 2019 supports compute nodes running Windows Server 2022/2019/2016 and client utilities on Windows 10/11 .

1. Specialized HPC-Optimized Linux Distributions

• Examples: While not explicitly named in the search results, HPC-tailored Linux variants (e.g., Cray OS, though not mentioned) are implied. The search results highlight Linux distributions like RHEL and Ubuntu as foundational, with configurations optimized for parallel processing and low-latency networking (e.g., Lustre file systems, InfiniBand) .

Additional Notes:

• Containerization: Tools like Singularity and Docker (with HPC-friendly adaptations) are used to deploy applications consistently across Linux-based HPC environments, though they are not OS replacements .
• Cloud Integration: Cloud-based HPC (e.g., Azure, AWS) often leverages Linux or Windows Server, depending on workload requirements .