24/01/2019 Supported Platforms | FLOW-3D CAST | Hardware & Software Recommendations

Supported Platforms

The following guidelines and recommendations apply to both the desktop and HPC versions of FLOW-3D
CAST <https://www. low3d.com/products/ low-3d-cast/> unless otherwise noted.

CPU and Memory

FLOW-3D CAST requires 64-bit CPUs. Intel Xeon, Core i9, or Core i7 processors are recommended. For
Skylake and more recent CPUs, please ensure all DIMMs are populated for best performance.

A minimum of 4GB of RAM is recommended per processor core. For example, a workstation with two 6-
core CPUs should have at least 48 gigabytes of memory. Note however that the amount of RAM required
is highly problem dependent. For simulations with large domains, or with complex geometry requiring
ine resolution, signi icantly more RAM than the required minimum will be necessary.

Graphics Support
nVidia Quadro series graphics cards are highly recommended, and are required for machines which will
be accessed remotely. On Linux operating systems, additional software tools Nice DCV or Penguin SCW
must be used in conjunction with the Quadro hardware for remote graphical sessions. VNC or other
tools which do not support remote OpenGL are neither recommended nor supported.

nVidia’s GTX series has shown decent performance on desktop and notebook machines but is not
recommended for remote visualization.

Certain graphics implementations are blacklisted and will result in degraded graphics and/or unreliable
performance. The following OpenGL renderers are neither recommended nor supported:

Intel integrated graphics

GDI Generic: This is the Windows default renderer when FLOW-3D CAST is opened via Remote
Desktop Connection
Mesa: This is a common default implementation for Linux machines
Gallium: This is a common default implementation for Linux machines

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24/01/2019 Supported Platforms | FLOW-3D CAST | Hardware & Software Recommendations

License Server Software

FLOW-3D CAST uses FLEXlm for license management. If you choose to employ the FLEXlm loating
manager on a Windows network, your network server must be running Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 8.1,
Server 2008, or Server 2012 and you must use a hardware key (dongle).

Operating Systems
Please note the differences between supported operating systems on the desktop and HPC versions.

Windows
FLOW-3D CAST is supported on Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows 8.1 Update 1, and Windows
10. Windows Server 2016 is not supported.
The HPC version is not supported on Windows operating systems.

Linux
FLOW-3D CAST is supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, and SUSE
Enterprise Linux 12

Support for FLOW-3D CAST installations on “compatible” Linux distributions (such as Fedora, Scienti ic
Linux, Debian, Ubuntu) will only be provided when a problem can be reproduced on Flow Science’s
RedHat and Novell enterprise-class Linux distributions.

Developer Tools
Users who wish to customize any of the subroutines that Flow Science distributes as part of the
standard installation will need a license for the Intel Fortran Compiler 2016, at least update 1. Users
running Windows operating system will also need Visual Studio 2010 or 2013.

Customization of the HPC version also requires a license for Intel MPI Library 5.1

Important Note for HPC Users

The HPC version runs on both Workstations and clusters with a high-speed network interconnect such
as In iniband, and a large shared NFS disk accessible from all nodes in the cluster. The HPC version
supports Intel® MPI, and the runtime libraries for this are provided as a part of the installation. For
cluster recommendations, please contact our sales team <mailto:sales@ low3d.com> .

FLOW-3D AND TRUVOF ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF FLOW SCIENCE, INC. IN THE USA AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
COPYRIGHT 2000 - 2018 FLOW SCIENCE, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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