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Macintosh Clustering
HiredMan writes: "Wired is running an article comparing the set-up and admin of Linux Beowulf clusters versus Mac based clusters. Slant of the article is that the Macs are easier to set-up, maintain and are more flexible. They note that the Linux "how to" manual is 230 pages while the corresponding Apple document is a 1 page PDF file. Dauger Research of former Appleseed fame is mentioned as well, of course. MacSlash is also covering the article. Let the on-topic (for once) Beowulf comments fly..."
The Linux manual is a Beowulf cluster of Mac manuals.
Finally we may rejoice! For once Apple has surpassed the user-friendliness of Linux! Let the merriment begin!
"Ask me about Loom"
imagine a mosix cluster of dual-gigahertz g4s!
Wow, imagine one of these clustered machines running ALL BY THEMSELVES!
Strange, it doesn't seem to have the same comedic value this way...
why pay for a good 3d graphics card in every pc if you are going to do number crunching !
That's right, but at least Apple saw the clustering potential early and decided not to put a floppy drive in their computers.
...Designer Massimo Zanigni has announced a way to use his clothing to mop up the floor. With an instruction manual of only seventeen words, it's sure to offer stiff competition to complicated, difficult-to-use products such as the Platinum PVA Mop, which, while currently the top-selling mop for cleanup purposes, and although it radically outperforms Massimo Zanigni rags, comes with a thirty-five page instruction manual, including several paragraphs of legalese.
First things first: I'm a big Mac fan [...]
Mmmmmmm, Big Macs....
Step One: Plug them in.
Step Two: Turn them on.
Step Three.... there's no Step Three! There's no Step three...
They note that the Linux "how to" manual is 230 pages while the corresponding Apple document is a 1 page PDF file.
Meanwhile, documenters have been developing a "What to do with a linux beowulf cluster" list. That document has grown to 230 pages. The corresponding mac list has come up with one idea (And it fits on a 1 page PDF file): "Create a system that allows us to use Photoshop to edit super-high resolution pictures of Natalie Portman eating hot grits."
(j/k!, and, btw, I'm using a Mac right now. :-)
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
Every time I walk by a Windows lab, you should see the "CLUSTER" they have going on in there! ;c)
I DL'd and read the manual. It really does seem just that easy. It costs $100+ per node, but you pays fer yer time & headaches, doncha?
The faster the machine and traffic the better of course, but you could do this with the cheapest iMac ($799 new, ~$400 used) or a bunch of cubes (banking finally on their close packing ability) if you want Altivec in the mix.
Gosh, a reason to make a headless iMac2 - that would be quite the aesthetic eh? Seventy six of those snuggling on a ping pong table...
Communication can be over Airport, too - so you can imagine ad hoc Mac Clustering begin setup during the first half of every Jobs keynote - you know, the part where he just says stuff - to go thru all possible iterations of the product to be intro'd in the second half of the keynote...
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
And I quote "But according to Dauger, Linux clusters require a PhD to set up and to run."
Yeah, I guess there wouldn't be any qualified people amoung those running Tokamak fusion simulations or 100 million mutually interacting particle simulations.
A diskless linux system is cake to setup and as far as different kernels are concerned, the article is clueless, you can use LamMPI to mix different platforms (ie sun,sgi,intel linux, alpha linux) in a single cluster.
Disclaimer: I have a Ph.D.
nohup rm -rf ~/. >& zen &
You've come to the right place.
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
I knocked up an Appleseed cluster at work just for the fun of it - took my about 20 minutes.
Ummm, okay....... whatever makes you happy, dude.
That's why it's called the Pentium 4.
At least four cycles for anything useful.
Lies about crimes
Cost of 10 good Highend Macs, (about $30,000)...
Reading Beowulf in a PDF file on a cluster of these: priceless.
A cluster of those new imacs would be pretty cool, cooler if they cool rotate their screen to follow the sun... like a big field of sun flowers.