One-Machine Linux Cluster

An AC wrote: Forget Beowulf ^? clusters, Jacques Gelinas has made available a kernel patch to enable many virtual servers running on the same machine, even the same kernel. Read his original message posted to the Linux kernel list." Imagine what this will mean for hosting companies...

Comments

Basically Like OpenVMS' Galaxy?

[inhalent]

Basically the same idea as Galaxy. Check it out for ideas.... http://www.openvms.compaq.com/availability/galaxy. html

User Mode Linux?

[jmv]

Can anyone tell me how this is different than User Mode Linux?

Re:User Mode Linux?

[dispari]

User Mode Linux is basically a VM. It uses virtual devices for hardware multiplexing. Read the "Alternative technolgoies/Virtual Machines" and "Alternative technologies/Limitations of those technologies" for why this is a different (and better in some instances) solution.

The vunify tool has significance when differentiating between VM's and this.

It's not the processing power

[KMSelf]

It's the control over it.

Mainframes have insane amounts of control over user processes (a Linux image essentially becomes same), as well as the ability to allocate more resources, fewer, provide fine-grained process accounting, shut down processes, migrate them elsewhere (part of the IBM dataceter Linux concept is the ability to migrate nodes around the country as needed).

What a mainframe doesn't have to offfer is insane amounts of processor power or memory. Disk, and disk I/O are quite another matter -- the amount of aggregate bandwidth a z390 has to offer is impressive.

PC-based virtualization clearly has some advantages, through not all of those offered by a mainframe. A rack of virtualized PCs probably does offer a higher processor density than the equivalent mainframe, however.