tlug: linux cluster

[Andrej Sali <sali@example.com>]

Hi, guys,

Reading your messages, I realized that we are very lucky.
Our computations are embarassingly parallel, so we will 
only need to use CLUSTOR of Active Tools to do the following 
with each of the nodes, totally independently of each other 
(we are already doing this with a few SGI workstations, 
including one 20 processor Origin 2000):

1) push a couple of files from the root machine to the node 
   machine (not more than a few megabytes in total) .
2) do a calculation on the node (from a few minutes to a few hours).
3) get a couple of files back to the root machine (not more than 
   10 MB).

My guess is that for a 32 processor cluster of Pentium II's, a 
100 Mb/s ethernet "switch" will do the job. So we only need standard 
Linux and our program (in Fortran90) on each of the machines; the 
installation will be more or less a one time effort (hopefully).

In comparison to single processor boards, do people find a big decrease 
in performance when using two-processor boards, with large
floating-point
intensive programs that rely on large arrays (>> 512kB)?

Many thanks to all of you! Andrej

--
Andrej Sali, Assistant Professor
The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021-6399
tel +1 212 327 7550; lab +1 212 327 7206 ; fax +1 212 327 7540
e-mail sali@example.com; http://guitar.rockefeller.edu
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