Beowulf clustering with 17 or Bust...

[markrogers]

Is it possible to use the 17 or Bust client on a linux cluster? I know there is a linux client but I'm not that educated on clustering but do know that some applications work and some do not.

I"d like to setup a cluster like this one:

http://www.calvin.edu/~adams/research/microwulf/

and dedicate it to running 17 or Bust.

Is this possible? Has it been done?

Many Thanks! :)

markrogers

[vjs]

Your best bet currently is the q6600 g0 stepping.

SImply the cheapest board you can find <100
The chip ~300 with decent heatsink
2G of memory ~50 dollars

A couple of these in a rack wouldn't cost too much.

[markrogers]

Thanks for the reply! :)

I'm good on the hardware aspects of the project, but not good on the clustering aspect...

Can I build a cluster of say 5 nodes and have all five nodes work on a single test? This would dramatically increase the speed that I can do a single test.

Is this possible?

markrogers

[prime95]

Can I build a cluster of say 5 nodes and have all five nodes work on a single test? This would dramatically increase the speed that I can do a single test.

Is this possible?

No. But you can have each node running a different test and get a 5-fold increase in throughput.

[markrogers]

Oh well. I guess I need to price out componets. I'd like to find some small PSU's and compact flash adaptors.

Does anyone know the point of diminishing returns when it comes to RAM? could I get by with 512 megs on a striped down, no gui, linux system? That should not hinder performance should it, or is the client capable of scaling to larger amounts of ram resulting in faster test processing? It would seem that 512 would be plenty. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Many thanks,

markrogers

[KriZp]

AFAIR the client only needs a few MB of ram itself. Using linux you should get by on 256 MB of RAM or even less, I'm seaving on a BP6 dual celeron with 256 MB RAM atm, that's running a standard Fedora 7 install with 2 instances of sr2sieve, each using 24 MB according to top. I don't think the SoB client would benefit from dual channel memory either (correct me if I'm wrong), but possibly from tweaked memory timings?

[markrogers]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Your input has been very helpful. I now need to price everything out and see what I can afford.

Has anyone ever been sponsored to do tests on the Sierpinski problem via 17 or Bust? :)

markrogers

[geoff]

Anyone thought of setting up a 24-hr internet cafe as a front for distributed computing? Most users wouldn't notice that Prime95 is running on 3 cores of a quad-core terminal. You could then write off the power and hardware depreciation. If it makes a profit then that is just a bonus.

[markrogers]

Why stop at 3 cores? I'd go for all four! :)

Of course, a patron would be able to pay a nominal fee and perhaps I would allow them additional processing power. :)

A cafe is a good idea though...I love the bean and I could use more socializing!

markrogers