How Well Does Windows Cluster?

cascadefx asks: "I work for a mid-sized mid-western university. One of our departments has started up a small Beowulf cluster research project that he hopes to grow over time. At the moment, the thing is incredibly weak... but it is running on old hardware and is basically used for dog and pony shows to get more funding and hopefully donations of higher-end systems. It runs Linux and works, it is just not anything to write home about. Here's the problem: my understanding is that an MS rep asked what it would take to get them to switch to a Microsoft cluster. Is this possible? Are there MS clusters that do what Beowulf clusters are capable of? I thought MS clusters were for load balancing, not computation... which is the hoped-for goal of this project. Can the Slashdot crowd offer some advice? If there are MS clusters, comparisons of the capabilities would be welcome." One has to only go as far as Microsoft's site to see its current attempt at clustering, but what is the real story. Have any of you had a chance to pit a Linux Beowulf cluster against one from Microsoft? How did they compare?

Comments

BSOD!!

[isotope23]

What do you call a cluster of Windows machines
when they Blue Screen?????

A Cluster Bomb!!!!

Capt. Obvious.

[saintlupus]

One has to only go as far as Microsoft's site to see

Ah, so this is a typical Ask Slashdot then?

--saint

department title said it all...

[Em Emalb]

"from the please...no-more-beowulf-jokes dept."

too late

Re:Licensing

[the_2nd_coming]

oh, but remember,

the TCO!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-p

you know how expencive a CS student is!!!! oh my god, how can they afford the astronomical amount of having 5 or 6 of them on one project.

don't you know that if you move to windows for all your reaseach project clustering needs, you only need a chimp....and since educating a chimp is much cheaper than educating 6 bright young men, your university will save a considerable amount of money....especialy when you lay off all those expencive profs and hire an animal trainer.

BTW: MS Slashdotted

[datastew]

Looks like Microsoft is busy being slashdotted.

Don't know if this answers your question...

[Fizzlewhiff]

but based on personal experience, Windows ME is pretty much a cluster.

Tell them it would take a lack of common sense

[bADlOGIN]

Those linux boxen can run just fine w/o video cards, keyboards, or mice connected to them. Can the same be said of any 'Doze variant? Of course the licensing cost is the devils bargan to be wary of here. Even if they got some nice PR deal, if it's a RESEARCH operation at a university and someone might want to SHARE the fruits of the RESEARCH, it would require anyone else who wanted to verify or extend the work with the clustering software to also run 'Doze. Is M$ going to step up and offer the same deal (or better) to every other members of the research community if they want to contribute, analize, or validate and expand the work? I didn't think so.

If there's one place where Linux excells and Microsoft needs to be kept out of with armed guards, constentino wire, and rabbid dogs it's the computing research centers in higher education. Scraping by to live and make post graduate tuition can suck, but having to fight for grant money that only lines the pockets of the richest man on the planet just so you can do your thesis is adding way too much insult to injury. For the sake of future scholars, show this salesweasle the door with the help of your foot.

I just think that its funny...

[acoustix]

that he says he "works for a mid-sized mid-western university" when his handle has a link to a Ball State University email address.

Just come out and say it.

Re:Licensing

[TheCarp]

Actually... Chimps are a hell of alot more expensive.

You have to pay someone to clean the cage, and that person alone is going to get paid more than any CS student, probably more than 2 of them.

Never mind that chimps demand a much higher standard of living than students do.

-Steve

so what do you call it?

[hawk]

Would a cluster of Windows be a Grendle???

:)

hawk

Re:so what do you call it?

[west]

Oddly enough, I've usually heard a Window's cluster referred to as a "pane".

Didn't make sense to me, but the sys admins certainly were adamant :-).

Re:BTW: MS Slashdotted

[Cinnibar CP]

This wouldn't have happened if they had thier servers clustered to handle the load-balancing issues.

What it would take

[Arandir]

my understanding is that an MS rep asked what it would take to get them to switch to a Microsoft cluster.

You've got a golden opportunity here! Microsoft does it your way or they don't get the sale.

Let them know the nature of a cluster in a research project. Nodes will be swapped in and out. New ones will be added. Different OSs will be used. So tell them you want a copy of Windows for each potential node, licensed to the University and not to any individual node. Tell them you need full rights to install, reinstall, and uninstall any particular copy on any particular node. Tell them you will not accept any terms restricting the cluster to Windows only.

If you really want to play hardball, tell them you don't even want licenses, but bonafide user-owned copies of Windows subject only to the provisions of copyright. In other words, you don't want to be subject to any EULA. Then you'll discover how much Microsoft wants your cluster to be a Windows cluster.

Re:Licensing

[lynx_user_abroad]

You have to pay someone to clean the cage...

What the chimps leave on the floor will be nothing compared to what the Windows-based cluster will leave on the floor.