“A node within a Linux cluster is the basic unit of
processing. Typically, it is a server or workstation dedicated to
processing information to aid in the massive amounts of number
crunching involved in biotech research. With information being
processed at such rapid rates, scientists and engineers can devote
their time and energy analyzing the information processed by the
Linux clusters, not waiting or worrying about speedy or accurate
results. Although some traditional supercomputer programs must be
adapted for clusters, this investment is attractive for two
reasons.First, nodes consist of readily available off-the-shelf
components with commodity pricing. Most users of Linux clusters
benchmark a price/performance improvement that is literally 10
times better than other traditional alternatives. Second, the Linux
operating system and cluster management software both allow
clusters to scale from four processors to several hundred. Users
can take advantage of the scalability of Linux clusters to grow
their system as demand warrants. The scalability and
price/performance ratio of clustering allows program managers to
economically add nodes as needed without changing software
programs.Because of the standard components used in Linux clusters,
organizations involved with biotechnology research can afford a
small cluster to start processing data, and scale as demands
increase. Companies such as Tularik and Celera have chosen Linux
clusters to facilitate their supercomputing needs and to
significantly speed their research and development processes while
increasing reliability. The risk of losing an entire processing run
can be eliminated when the cluster is programmed to be forgiving of
node failures. A portion of computational capacity may be lost
without compromising the data or completion of the task.”
Complete Story [ By the CTO of Linux NetWorX, a Linux
clustering company ]