Simulation Manager

The DesignBuilder Simulation Manager allows you to run and control multiple simulations and view their results. Simulations can be run in parallel and over the network.

Use Simulation Manager

To run an EnergyPlus simulation using the Simulation Manager go to the Simulation Manager tab on the Simulation Calculation options dialog and check the Use Simulation Manager checkbox. This exposes 2 further data items described below.

Server

By default the localhost server is selected, which is the option to use the Simulation Manager installed on the local machine. Choosing this allows you to run and control simulations from DesignBuilder, continue to work on the model or another model or even close DesignBuilder down and the simulations will continue to run unaffected. If the local machine is put into hibernate or sleep then the simulations will be suspended too and will resume when the machine is switched on again. If the machine is shut down while simulations are running then those simulations will be lost but should start again (from the beginning) when the machine is started up again.

Another option is to select a server on a different machine on the network from the drop down list. To enable other servers to appear on the list for selection you should follow the steps on the Install Simulation Server page. When running simulations on a server, as well as the advantages already mentioned above for the localhost, you can also close your machine down and the simulations will continue to run unaffected. You must of course be connected to the server over the network to start the simulation and to retrieve results.

Tip: With a good internet connection at both ends and a VPN service you can run simulations on your server from your client machine when away from the office. Note that in this case there will be a transmission overhead as input files are uploaded to the server and results are downloaded. This is of course more of an issue for larger models, especially when large datasets are generated.

Dedicated Simulation Servers

 

Some advantages of using a dedicated simulation server for your EnergyPlus simulations are:

 

• You can close the computer running DesignBuilder down once the job is submitted and the simulation(s) will continue to run. This can be especially useful for long simulations. Results can be retrieved later by opening the Simulation Manager dialog.
• If you choose a powerful multi-core server with plenty of memory you can run many simulations more quickly and simultaneously.
• The processor of the computer running DesignBuilder doesn't get overloaded while you are working on the model.

 

Tip: You can obtain a high-performance EnergyPlus simulation server configured and ready to run from EnSimS

EnergyPlus server method

There are 2 options:

• EnergyPlus - the default option where the Simulation Manager runs EnergyPlus directly.
• JEPlus - select this option if you have an account on the JESS online service and would like the Simulation Manager to run simulations via JEPlus and the JESS server.