Crossroads: Parallel Computing With Linux

“We became involved in cluster computing more than two years
ago, after developing a proposal for the construction of a Beowulf
cluster to support a handful of research projects. The proposal was
rejected, but because we had already begun development of a new
high-resolution landscape ecology application, we decided to build
a cluster out of surplus PCs (primarily Intel 486s) destined for
salvage. We began intercepting excess machines at federal
facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and processing them into usable
nodes. By September 1997, we had a functional parallel computer
system built out of no-cost hardware…”

“Anyone can construct a parallel computer adequate for teaching
parallel programming and running parallel codes–often using
existing or excess PCs. PCs in an established computer laboratory
can be adapted for dual use, dual-boot systems so that they can be
rebooted into either Linux or Microsoft Windows, depending on the
present need. Alternatively, unused equipment can be collected and
fashioned into a parallel system as we have done.”

“No two Beowulf clusters are the same. In fact, their
hardware and software configurations are so flexible and
customizable that they present a wide array of possibilities.
In this tutorial, we hope to provide some guidelines and
considerations for narrowing this wide field of choices. While
every Beowulf cluster is different and configurations are dictated
by application needs, some minimum requirements can be
specified.”

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