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EF Portal | Open OnDemand
Which is the right portal for your HPC?
TL;DR
Free isn’t always frictionless—Open OnDemand’s limited features often mean more manual work for admins and a less seamless experience for users.
- User-friendly GUI: EF Portal provides an intuitive interface for job submission and monitoring; OOD relies on manual scripting.
- Data lifecycle management: EF Portal includes built-in tools for managing data workflows; OOD offers basic capabilities.
- Complex HPC environments: EF Portal is built to scale across large, hybrid HPC environments; OOD is better suited to simpler setups.
- Granular admin control: EF Portal delivers advanced configuration options and dashboards out of the box; OOD often requires manual customization.
- Extensibility: EF Portal’s plugin-based architecture makes it very easy to extend functionality.
- Cost & support: EF Portal is available at no cost in AWS environments. Premium support means that you won’t have to rely on community forums.
Compatible schedulers
Both EF Portal and Open OnDemand offer varying levels of support for different HPC schedulers, check out which is compatible with yours.
Slurm
PBS
PBS Pro
LSF
Grid Engine
Torque
AWS Batch
Job submission and control
A crucial function of an HPC portal is to provide users with mechanisms for submitting and managing their jobs on the HPC system. Easiness of use and depth of job management functionalities are key to efficient portal operations.
User-friendly GUI
with advanced job control and monitoring
Full-fledged GUI
Real-time job & resource monitoring
Estimated job time-to-completion
Only for users familiar with scripting
and SSH functionality
Job logs and history
Built-in SSH terminal
Data management
HPC portals include features to help users manage the data associated with their computational workloads. These are essential components for user efficiency.
A robust suite of tools
for the whole data lifecycle
Spooler
for centralized job output management
Preview
with visualization apps integration
Streaming
during job execution
File browsing capabilities,
but integration-dependent streaming
Browser
with file uploads/downloads
Spooler / Preview / Streaming
features depend on implemented integrations
HPC capabilities & supported environments
The suitability of an HPC portal depends on its ability to support your own HPC workloads and user environments, including specific software and workflows.
Tailored for complex HPC environments
Multi-host deployments with increased security. DMZ support and built-in load balancing
Cloud connectors
comprehensive AWS integration
Complex multi-steps workflow support
VDI
Supports DCV
For simpler HPC setups only
Designed for single-host deployments
convenient configuration for simpler environments
Scheduler-dependent cloud connectivity
Wide support for scientific applications
VDI
Supports noVNC and unofficial DCV
Administration & licensing
The administrative overhead and the licensing model of an HPC portal are important considerations for its implementation and maintenance.
Free on AWS, advanced modular administration, very extensible
Detailed node-level monitoring with graphical real-time resource usage views
Modular administration supporting plug-and-play tool integration
Highly extensible & customizable with plugin architecture and appearance editor
Free on AWS and free evaluation licenses
Fast, responsive support backed by enterprise-grade SLAs
Open-source
Free and open-source
Cluster-level monitoring, expandable through manual integrations
WATCH EF PORTAL IN ACTION
MORE RESOURCES
- EnginFrame to EF Portal FAQ
- What’s New in EF Portal
- How to install EF Portal Portal (Guide)
- Video Walkthrough EF HPC Portal – Intuitive HPC Access and Management Portal for End Users
HAVE QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions, comments or are interested in a free trial or a demo just let us know.
