Licensing and memory usage on multi-core system

Hello, I plan to buy a multi-core HP Workstation to run Matlab/Simulink+toolboxes. The main programs I intend to use only work on R2006a->R2007. I probably need to install two copies of Matlab on the computer. The R2006/R2007 version to run the simulations mentioned above and the latest version for other work.

1. If I run several copies of Matlab/Simulink+toolboxes on one multi-core system, do I need to have more than 1 license?

2. What are the advantages/disadvantages of doing this instead of running the simulations on a cluster of powerful workstations? Which approach is faster to get result? My reasoning is that once a cluster of powerful workstations is available, many people will use it. Then, the system may not be as power as a standalone multi-core Workstation. Any opinion?

3. Assuming that each simulation takes 50GB RAM and I have three copies of Matlab/Simulinks+Toolboxes running on this multi-core system, is it recommended to get more than 50x3GB + whatever amount of memory required by the OS RAM?

4. Which verion (Mac,Windows,Linux) is better suit for my needs?

Thanks.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

I suspect that you cannot buy new R2006a or R2007 MATLAB licenses. If, however, you have those licenses existing on a system, the licenses can be transferred to the new system at no cost (a limited number of times per year.)

Answer 2

[K E]

You can launch many separate instances of Matlab/Simulink on one computer without needing more than 1 license. I do this all the time because I am too lazy to rewrite legacy code so that it can the Parallel Computing toolbox. You can change Simulink model parameters in one of the Simulink instances without that change applying to other Simulink instances that are running. However, the Parallel Computing toolbox is optimized to get many simulations finished quickly and so is a better approach.

[Walter Roberson]

Each MATLAB version used requires its own license to run at all.

[K E]

I was thinking of launching several concurrent instances of R2007 (or whatever) on the same machine, which can be done with one license. But your comment makes me realize I misunderstood the question. Should I delete my answer?

[Walter Roberson]

The question was ambiguous, so your response is relevant.