We currently have one compute node that we use directly. Now we want to implement a cluster (starting with this one node and scaling it up later).

To make this question more specific, lets assume we are going to use Slurm (seems to me that that is the current go to).

I failed to find information on what hardware requirements I can expect for the head node (SMS)?
What is the hardware configuration of your head node?

With respect to the following properties

• Number of CPU cores

• Single core performance (CPU)

• Storage size

• Storage speed

• Memory size

• Network Connection

What does a head node depend on the most?

When scaling up (adding nodes), for which properties do the requirements increase?

As an additional question: Is it problematic to also run the data node from the head node or totally reasonable for the start?