[Subject Prev][Subject Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Subject Index][Thread Index]
cluster example 1
- Subject: cluster example 1
- From: "Vishal Rao" <vishal128@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 17:10:49 PDT
>From: "Butler, Mark, CTR" <Mark.Butler-contractor@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: "'Jon 'maddog' Hall, USG Senior Leader'" <hall@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>CC: extreme-linux@xxxxxxxxxxxx, beowulf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: RE: Needed: Examples of how Beowulf systems are used in "real lif
>e"
>Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 11:12:21 -0600
>
>Well, here at the Joint National Test Facility, we currently have 2 Beowulf
>clusters. Their configurations are:
>
> System 1: 7 Dual-PentiumPro 200 systems, each with
> 128MB RAM
> Various compliments of SCSI HD up to 20GB each (two are RAID)
> 10Mbps Ethernet and Myrinet
> Red Hat Linux 4.1 (Vanderbilt) - soon to upgrade to RH Linux 6.0
>
> System 2 (referred to as "The Borg Collective")
> 5 Dual PentiumPro systems (four 180MHz and one 200MHz)
> 64MB RAM in the 180's (barely sufficient) and 128MB RAM in the
>200
> 4GB IDE on the 180's, 12GB SCSI on the 200
> Gigabit Ethernet (Packet Engines' Hamachi cards) with Don
>Becker's
>(GSFC Beowulf Project) driver
> Extreme-Linux 5.0 - soon to upgrade to RH Linux 6.0
>
>Not exactly on the scale of some of the systems at LANL and other places,
>and not state of the art in speed, but sufficient at this time for our
>research needs. We do a lot of modeling and simulation (wargames, missile
>defense, etc.) here. Parallel processing in the form of Parallel Discrete
>Event Simulation (PDES) makes up a large part of this. The
>simulation-oriented support software package we use is Synchronous Parallel
>Environment for Emulation and Discrete-Event Simulation (SPEEDES) which is
>owned by NASA and supported by Metron, Inc. It handles processor
>allocation/sharing within and among simulation components that are
>distributed over multiple processors on the same system and/or multiple
>systems. We currently use SGI/Cray-type hardware as the platforms.
>
>My group is researching the feasibility of porting some form of these
>modeling and simulation apps wholly, or in part, to Beowulf-type platforms
>to reduce costs. This could also provide some level of portability.
>
>While potentially an interesting idea for reducing the cost of a lot of
>applications, a generic Beowulf solution presents a number of hurdles that
>need to be overcome. Probably the most significant hurdle is COTS software
>availability, compatibility, and portability from other environments to
>Linux. For example, the Rogue Wave tool set products are not yet available
>for Linux. One might be able, however, to "tweak" Unix versions and get
>them to work (rumor has it that this has already been done at least once).
>Also. while some of the relational database vendors are porting, or have
>ported, their products to Linux, the OODBMS vendors are a little farther
>behind. Obviously, this has an impact if you are using an OODBMS.
>
>At any rate, Beowulf is a very interesting research area. Also, this area
>desperately needs the benefit of Linux performance tuning information.
>Everyone's probably seen the recent flap about the benchmark MindCraft did
>comparing Linux to Windows NT. One of the outcomes of this was that good
>Linux tuning information is essential and available, but VERY hard to find.
>So any efforts going on to consolidate this information into one place, or
>at least provide the links in one place, will greatly enhance everybody's
>efforts in getting the most out of their Linux in general, and Beowulf in
>particular, systems.
>
>Hope you find this info useful,
>Mark Butler
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jon 'maddog' Hall, USG Senior Leader [SMTP:hall@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent: Friday, May 14, 1999 12:42 PM
> > To: extreme-linux@xxxxxxxxxxxx; beowulf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Cc: hall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Needed: Examples of how Beowulf systems are used in "real
> > life"
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I was wondering if people would be so kind as to send a couple of
> > sentences
> > on exactly WHAT they were using their Beowulf systems for in "real life"
> > (other than just building a 'really fast machine').
> >
> > As an example, I know of one group that is using it to simulate meteors
> > smashing
> > into the earth...another group that is using it to do real-time
>animation.
> >
> > If you would be so kind as to send me a few sentences about what you are
> > doing,
> > what your organization's name is, and how big your configuration is, I
> > would
> > appreciate it. If you do not want me to mention your organization's
>name,
> > that
> > is fine.
> >
> > Warmest regards,
> >
> > maddog
> > --
> >
>==========================================================================
> > ===
> > Jon "maddog" Hall Internet: maddog@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > Senior Leader, UNIX Software Group Executive Director, Linux(R)
> > Intern'l
> >
> > Compaq Computer Corporation Linux International
> > Mailstop ZK03-2/U15 80 Amherst St.
> > 110 Spit Brook Rd. Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
> > Nashua, N.H. 03062-2698 U.S.A.
> >
> > WWW: http://www.compaq.com WWW: http://www.li.org
> > Voice: +1.603.884.1341 Voice: +1.603.672.4557
> > FAX: +1.603.884.6424 Board Member: Uniforum Association
> > Office: ZK03-2/V15 Board Member: USENIX Association
> >
> > (R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several
>countries.
_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe send an email to majordomo@xxxxxxxxx with the word
'unsubscribe linux-india' (without the quotes) in the body of the email.
------------------------------