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| Thread ID: 32622 | 2003-04-24 03:32:00 | How exactly do I cluster network 2 PCs to make one big processing beast!? | PoWa (203) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 138366 | 2003-04-24 04:41:00 | You sure about your facts, whiskeytangofoxtrot? From what I understood, Westpac used to have the largest computer in NZ, before the Auckland University bought a bigger one. Both machines are extremely large, and are "divided up", so to speak, so that, in bad wording, "they perform as many different computers". |
agent (30) | ||
| 138367 | 2003-04-24 04:51:00 | What about running one computer in linux and the other in windows. The linux one being the server to the windows one? Trying to encode video and do other tasks in linux sounds really difficult. Not to mention where do you come across software for that? |
PoWa (203) | ||
| 138368 | 2003-04-24 04:54:00 | OK so it was Massey, not Waikato. All the CS departments will be doing it. Westpac's might be the biggest (or second-biggest) of its class, but it won't be a "supercomputer". It will be a data-processor. The difference is in the I/O. Supercomputers do a lot of crunching. Data-processors do a lot of transactions ... often with dedicated processors doing the I/O. One thing which still costs money for supercomputing: the electriocity. That Cray (with 144 Pentiums) takes 42kW. The early Cray-2 (which was a single processor (probably the power of a sub-GHz Pentium) used 30 kW. A group in NASA built their first one when they needed computing for which they had no funding. They had a store room full of old 486s etc, waiting to be sold off. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 138369 | 2003-04-24 04:57:00 | And they say we're facing a power crisis... I'd much rather have slightly less accurate weather forcasts than have no power for part of the day. And I'm not even a heavy power user. Who cares about weather modelling and ocean modelling, etc. We need that precious power. | agent (30) | ||
| 138370 | 2003-04-24 05:56:00 | > You sure about your facts, whiskeytangofoxtrot? Sorry I am actually slightly incorrect . . . The Largest "computer" in NZ is in fact is the Helix Project ( . massey . ac . nz/research/helix/" target="_blank">iims . massey . ac . nz) at Massey University . Last time I did research on this they hadn't constructed it . The NIWA Cray is the second largest computer in New Zealand, bumped from it's title when the Helix Project was completed . |
whiskeytangofoxtrot (438) | ||
| 138371 | 2003-04-24 08:00:00 | Lets all try to stick to the topic please :) | PoWa (203) | ||
| 138372 | 2003-04-25 03:10:00 | I'm not trying to make a super computer here guys. I only want to cluster 2-3 computers. I'm going to try out this Win2000 advanced server. That might do the trick, I have my doubts though. Anyone had any experience with this type of networking before? |
PoWa (203) | ||
| 138373 | 2003-04-26 03:32:00 | You've obviously not got the point, PoWa . You have two networked MS Windows computers now . You don't need to buy more expensive MS software: W2k advanced server is not meant for a home network . It is priced accordingly . All it will give you is a network of two MS Windows computers, and a lighter bank account . It won't give you the combined CPU power for video processing . The "Cluster" term was common in the DEC enviroment . . . Vax Clusters were extremely popular . They did not make a superpower computer . . . they shared the load between a number of Vax machines (all running the same OS -- Vax/VMS) . . . mainly so that multiple batch queues could run on microVax workstations, as well as the interactive users sitting at them . (A microvax cost about $40k in NZ, and has about the power of a 386 . ) Such a configuration was common in Burrough Large Systems, too . An added reason was reliability . If one machine had to be serviced, it could be removed by an operator command, and the system never had to stop . You first asked about clustered PCs to get more CPU power . It's not a well kept secret: it's a growth industry . As we said, look for "Beowulf" and "SuperSouper" on google, and you will find out all about it . It is not difficult to build one . But to take advantage of the multiple processors, you need software which is designed to take advantage of it . The clustering OS just provides the communication between processors . |
Graham L (2) | ||
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