Beowulf Cluster

[Brian23]

I've got about 20 computers with NICs, and I want to set up a beowulf cluster. How do I do it?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Brian23
I've got about 20 computers with NICs, and I want to set up a beowulf cluster. How do I do it?

If you have something that's heavily multithreaded, and you want to distribute the load across multiple systems, then maybe OpenMosix is for you. Unfortunately, adding more computers to that sort of cluster will only increase performance if the maximum number of threads of all applications doing work is greater than or equal to the number of computers (basically, two computers can't share the work of one thread).

A true "beowulf" cluster involves programs specifically written with certain message passing APIs. Usually, these are custom scientific applications or things that you may have written yourself.

 

[Brian23]

Ok, I know windows uses a messaging system, does that mean that I can run it across multiple systems? In task manager it says I have 44 processes running. can I hand one each pc?

 

[JTWill]

http://bofh.be/clusterknoppix/
:: ClusterKnoppix - Main

This may help also.........Thanks for that link ProviaFan

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Brian23
Ok, I know windows uses a messaging system, does that mean that I can run it across multiple systems? In task manager it says I have 44 processes running. can I hand one each pc?

Short answer: no. Slightly longer answer: you're mixing different kinds of "messaging systems." Windows doesn't have the same sort of clustering ability that one gets with Linux (you do get failover with Windows $erver, which is having another computer that picks up where the first left off if the first one craps out, but no load sharing of applications that haven't been specifically written to do this on their own - like 3dsMax, Nuendo, etc.).

 

[FlameDeer]

Hopefully you can have this hungry cluster setup soon.

 

[bluestrobe]

If F@H would be a multi-thread application, I would try the linux flavor of clustering.

 

[Brian23]

Originally posted by: bluestrobe
If F@H would be a multi-thread application, I would try the linux flavor of clustering.

Well, I'm not really interested in folding. I don't want to use all the electricity to run them if I don't benefit from it. I just wanted to see if I could set up a cluster to run something useful. The computers are stacked in various places in my house right now being used as counter space. They're all 100-500MHz Pentiums and 486s. I guess there's nothing really useful I can do with them.

 

[bluestrobe]

Originally posted by: Brian23

Originally posted by: bluestrobe
If F@H would be a multi-thread application, I would try the linux flavor of clustering.

Well, I'm not really interested in folding. I don't want to use all the electricity to run them if I don't benefit from it. I just wanted to see if I could set up a cluster to run something useful. The computers are stacked in various places in my house right now being used as counter space. They're all 100-500MHz Pentiums and 486s. I guess there's nothing really useful I can do with them.

Nope, Doesn't look like it. Greed and old equipment don't go together

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: ProviaFan

Originally posted by: Brian23
Ok, I know windows uses a messaging system, does that mean that I can run it across multiple systems? In task manager it says I have 44 processes running. can I hand one each pc?

Short answer: no. Slightly longer answer: you're mixing different kinds of "messaging systems." Windows doesn't have the same sort of clustering ability that one gets with Linux (you do get failover with Windows $erver, which is having another computer that picks up where the first left off if the first one craps out, but no load sharing of applications that haven't been specifically written to do this on their own - like 3dsMax, Nuendo, etc.).

This is slowly changing, 2003 allows networked load balancing of internal apps and some of the latest versions of sql. The systems don't even have be exactly the same as you have to have for windows clustering. The linux beowulf configuration is still far more gracefull and sharing threads, but Microsoft is closing in on that feature.