“Building Linux Clusters” is a hands-on guide for people new
to clusters.“
“O’Reilly’s latest release, “Building Linux Clusters” by David
HM Spector, defines a cluster in its simplest form as “a bunch of
computers tied together with a network, working on some large
problem that has been broken down into smaller pieces.” The
simplicity of the definition belies the importance of the subject.
The list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers now includes
Beowulf machines: PCs running Linux, clustered together into a
single machine.”
“From scientific applications to transaction processing,
clustering technology provides an affordable, scalable computing
solution. One of the hottest topics in Linux today is the ability
to cluster Linux machines to mimic the performance of
supercomputers (costing hundreds of thousands of dollars) for a
fraction of the cost.”