text: Welcome and Introduction to HTCondor
  ====================================
  
  :index:`user manual<single: user manual; HTCondor>` :index:`user manual`
  
  HTCondor is developed by the Center for High Throughput Computing at the
  University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), and was first installed as
  a production system in the UW-Madison Computer Sciences department in 
  the 1990s. HTCondor pools have since served as a major source of
  computing cycles to thousands of campuses, labs, organizations and 
  commercial entities. For many, it has revolutionized the role computing 
  plays in their research. An increase of several orders of magnitude in 
  the computing throughput of a organization can have a profound impact on
  their results. 
  
  HTCondor is a specialized batch system :index:`batch system` for managing 
  compute-intensive jobs. HTCondor provides a queuing mechanism, scheduling
  policy, priority scheme, and resource classifications. Users submit
  their compute jobs to HTCondor, HTCondor puts the jobs in a queue, runs
  them, and then informs the user as to the result.
  
  Batch systems normally operate only with dedicated machines. Often
  termed worker nodes, these dedicated machines are typically owned by
  one group and dedicated to the sole purpose of running compute
  jobs. HTCondor can schedule jobs on dedicated machines. But unlike
  traditional batch systems, HTCondor is also designed to run jobs
  on machines shared and used by other systems or people. By being directed to run
  jobs on machines which are currently idle, HTCondor can effectively harness
  all machines throughout a campus. This is important
  because often an organization has more latent, idle computers
  than any single department or group otherwise has access to.
  