Re: tlug: I wanna a supercomputer

[Karl-Max Wagner <karlmax@example.com>]

> I've read about people using a network of linux computers to crack
> passwords, and to do ray-tracing. Does anyone know more about how this is

There are principally two approaches: Don Becker's "Beowulf"
extensions to Linux and Purdue University's Hank Dietz's
"PAPERS" system. This is also based on Linux.

Both work by connecting computers using ethernet, installing
Linux and the respective extensions. Then you have to configure
everything according to the instructions that come with the
extensions and you're set.

PAPERS is a tad more involved in that you need some ( simple )
circuitry to distribute syncing signals over the paralell ports.
However, this gives you fine grained paralellism with context
syncs of below 3 microseconds between any two machines.

Hank Dietz also seems to think of using signal processors in
such an arrangement, thus carrying these ideas towards
heterogenous networks.

An extreme is the "Legion Project". They plan to use idle cycles
of machines on the Internet and thus create a network wide
supercomputer. The biggest testbed system they have is the
"Centurion".

For more info, try:

http://garage.ecn.purdue.edu/~papers/
http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/Linux/beowulf/beowulf.html
http://legion.virginia.edu/

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