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Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of Penguin Computers

Posted by michael on from the all-jokes-aside dept.

Pii writes "News.com is running a story about Penguin Computing acquiring Scyld Computing, a company founded by Donald Becker, of linux ethernet driver and Beowulf cluster fame. Becker will stay on as Penguin's Chief Technology Officer, and the companies claim they don't expect any layoffs as a result of the merger."

52 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Beowulf cluster by MoonFog · · Score: 4, Funny

    The topic alone makes the next 100 posts redundant..

    1. Re:Beowulf cluster by travdaddy · · Score: 5, Funny

      The topic alone makes the next 100 posts redundant..

      I'm just glad the cluster isn't in Soviet Russia.

      --
      Adidas To Bring Back Sneakernet
    2. Re:Beowulf cluster by Pii · · Score: 5, Funny
      Goddamn...

      I was so excited to be submitting a story involving a Beowulf cluster, that I didn't think the concluding statement through...

      It should have read:

      Pii writes "News.com is running a story about Penguin Computing acquiring Scyld Computing, a company founded by Donald Becker, of linux ethernet driver and Beowulf cluster fame. Becker will stay on as Penguin's Chief Technology Officer, and the companies claim they don't expect any layoffs as a result of the merger. A naked and petrified Natalie Portman was otherwise occupied, and couldn't be reached for comment. Hot Grits, Hot Grits, Hot Grits!"
      A pox on me for not having had the discipline to execute this story correctly.
      --
      For those that would die defending it, Freedom
      has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
    3. Re:Beowulf cluster by Fluid+Truth · · Score: 4, Funny

      But...but...what about the obligitory

      "Can you imagine just ONE of these?!?"

      --
      Apparently, of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.
    4. Re:Beowulf cluster by Jellybob · · Score: 2

      And ironically you also managed to make your modding to redundant a redundant activity, due to your redundant mentioning of how you modded a non-redundant post redundant.

      (And if that gets through the lameness filter, I will personally eat your hat. 5 times to ensure redundancies)

  2. Good. by Usquebaugh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Prehaps now they'll have enough time to get the DEC Tulip driver working 100%

    1. Re:Good. by Pii · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I've never had any personal interaction with Mr. Becker, so I can't really comment on his attitude, but I have been running various flavors of Linux for the past 8 years, all of which have had Ethernet cards of one sort or another.

      Far more often than not, they've performed flawlessly, and I have Don Becker to thank for it. If you use Ethernet on Linux, you're either using a driver developed by Mr. Becker almost entirely on his own, or you're using a driver kludged together by someone else that is almost entirely derived from Mr. Becker's code.

      I didn't even realize he had any affiliation with the Beowulf project until I read this story... I'd only known of Becker as Mr. Ethernet on Linux.

      --
      For those that would die defending it, Freedom
      has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
  3. Layoffs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...the 2 workers at each company were relieved to here today that their jobs were no in jeopardy.

    1. Re:Layoffs... by MyHair · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...the 2 workers at each company were relieved to here today that their jobs were no in jeopardy.

      However, they are very concerned about the announced 10% in staff reduction.

  4. Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by dspyder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just curious (in a serious way), is anybody actually using a beowolf cluster for anything important? Anything that couldn't be done with a super-powerful single machine?

    --D

    1. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by iwnbs · · Score: 5, Funny

      I used one to try to install Gentoo in under week.

      --
      Computer Geek Proverb: Linux is only free if your time is worthless.
    2. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by gnuadam · · Score: 4, Interesting

      To ask that question is to miss the beauty that is beowolf.

      Few things (anything?) that can be done on a beowolf can't be done on a single multiprocessor machine. But if your problem is well suited to a beowolf approach, it's often much cheaper.

      --
      You say :wq, I say ZZ. Why can't we all just get along?
    3. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by jat850 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, a local Canadian university is using a Beowulf server in their new bioinformatics research program:

      Here it is, and if you browse around the page, you can see a few details on it.

      --
      the blood has stopped pumping, and he's left to decay
      the me that you know is now made up of wires
    4. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by paitre · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Protein folding, for starters.
      The point you're missing is that a beowulf class supercomputer is -MUCH- cheaper to put together than some "super-powerful" single machine (forgetting that most of the -really- big machines are themselves clusters of a sort).

      Money played (and plays) a rather large role in the whole COTS supercomputing arena :)

    5. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

      I do, but my coworkers don't know it yet. They still wonder what that Mosix tarball does in their home directories ...

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    6. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by jstott · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Just curious (in a serious way), is anybody actually using a beowolf cluster for anything important? Anything that couldn't be done with a super-powerful single machine?

      Yes. I do Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport. Because Monte Carlo simulations are naturally parallel, running on 12 computers (1GHz CPU each) means I finish in 1/12th the time. Simulations like these (where each CPU runs independant of all its neighbors) are pretty much a textbook problem for Beowulf clusters.

      -JS

      --
      Vanity of vanities, all is vanity...
    7. Re:Anyone actually use a beowolf cluster? by sjames · · Score: 2, Informative

      They're definatly being used for things that are important. They're also well represented in the Top500 list.

      It's worth noting that the super-powerful single machines all use multiple CPUs as well, it's just that their interconnect hardware is different (generally custom, proprietary, and expensive).

      There is nothing you can do on a Beowulf that absolutely can't be done on the custom machines, but the custom machines are generally at least 10 times more expensive. There are problems that the custom machines can tackle that you can't do on a cluster (yet).

      The real question is more along the lines of can you afford to get the custom machine, and will the factor of 10 price difference buy you anything . (Sometimes, the answer to both is yes). In that sense, if budget is limited (and whose isn't?), it may be that they can by virtue of actually being able to afford the cluster at all, but not the single machine.

  5. Becker rules by Giant+Ape+Skeleton · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I remember one of my earliest Linux experiences involved trying to get a gateway PC with one of those weird generic 3Cxxx based integrated NICs working with Debian (my first distro).

    I posted newbieshly to a Debian NG and amidst the flames and RTFM's, Donald Becker actually took the time to provide me with the solution.

    This experience encouraged me to continue learning Linux networking, and the rest is (obscure) history.... :-)

    --
    The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
    1. Re:Becker rules by Etyenne · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yep, I second that. Don Becker is one of the most accessible kernel hacker I know of. A colleague here exchanged a few email with him concerning a misbehaving NIC (D-Link DFE-530TX rev A3-1) and he was really helpful. Considering this man earn a living consulting, I think the free help with troubleshooting from his part was very generous. He really have the quality of his driver at heart.

      --
      :wq
    2. Re:Becker rules by El · · Score: 2

      Agreed, Becker is a gentleman and a scholar... and I don't think most people realize how many of the Ethernet drivers he has personally written...

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  6. Imagine by stinky+wizzleteats · · Score: 4, Funny

    A Beowulf cluster of resurgent troll jokes.

    1. Re:Imagine by dkragen2002 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ummm, wouldn't that be redundant? We already have /.

      Dave

  7. Imagine! by SPiKe · · Score: 4, Funny

    A Beowulf Cluster of Beowulf Clustering Companies ... shenanigans.

  8. wow by PukkaStoryTeller · · Score: 2, Funny

    imagine a beowulf cluster of beowulf clusters

  9. Yep... by Ron+Harwood · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here's one at my workplace...

    What takes hours on this system could take weeks on a "super-powerful single machine".

    --
    BlackNova Traders
    1. Re:Yep... by B5_geek · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's too bad you didn't choose to use that Beowolf power to run your web server.

      --
      "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
  10. Oh yeah? Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Imagine a Penguin cluster of a Beowulf Penguin cluster of clusters of Penguins and Beowulfs surrounded by clusters of Beowins and Pengowulfs which are then clustered together into a nice, neat, little cluster.

    Betcha can't imagine that. So there!

  11. how by Ryan+Stortz · · Score: 4, Funny

    How do you rate the article as troll?

    --
    Bugs are just features that have been fixed.
  12. Clusters, a ridiculous liberal myth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Have you ever heard clusters mentioned in literature prior to 1960? No? That's because liberal scientists invented the concept of Beowulf Clusters to push their hippie Communist principles through false benchmark numbers telling us the pervasive lie that sharing resources evenly is the most efficient method. Don't buy it.

  13. lay-offs by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Insightful

    the two companies don't expect to lay off any staff, a representative said

    Right, so they'll have 2 PR divisions, 2 marketing divisions, ... The key word here is "expect". My former company's management didn't expect layoffs either, but funnily enough they did 6 rounds before sinking completely.

    This said, Donald Becker is cool, Penguin Computing is cool (I toyed with an alpha box from them for a while and I was very inpressed), so I reckon the result should be uber-cool.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:lay-offs by gmack · · Score: 3, Informative

      divisions? The 2 companies combined only amount to 35 people.

    2. Re:lay-offs by BlueShades · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Right, so they'll have 2 PR divisions, 2 marketing divisions, ... The key word here is "expect". My former company's management didn't expect layoffs either, but funnily enough they did 6 rounds before sinking completely.

      If you read the article, you would have seen that both companies are keeping their perspective names and business model the way it is. The only thing that is merging is the cluster technology on their systems to compete against bigger companies. Doing this, both companies will most likely create a department for testing the clusters on their hardware and providing hardware, software, and support in one bundle to the customers. By trying this move, the company can brag about selling everything you need for extreme computing.

      It reminds me of the Oracle radio commercial:
      We have the violinist, pianist, and the guitarist.

      In this case: The Penguin, The Wulf, and The Beast

  14. Great.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    it's only a matter of time untill the goatse.cx posts show up on the front page...

    Other headlines to show up soon:

    1. In Soviet Russia, hackers hack YOU!
    1. All your base are belong to us, says RIAA
    1. Insensitive clod makes up 90% of all spam on the internet
  15. Imagine... by griffjon · · Score: 2, Funny

    All the computers that could be extracted from the Beowulf clusters this new company will have!

    --
    Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
  16. I f*king LOVE Penguin Computing!! by smitty45 · · Score: 5, Informative

    those guys are great, and congrats to them. I have fond memories of walking down to their office on Mission St, and carrying one of their new 2U boxes down to where I worked. When we opened the box, not only did we find a machine that is still running right now (over 2 years) but a couple of cool tshirts.

  17. Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of.. by Lugor · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey!!!
    Thats mine line.
    I will now sue you under the DMCA for copyright infringement and circumventing my right to say my line!

  18. Won't stay up by red_dragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Everyone knows that you can't keep a Beowulf cluster of penguins up for too long; the nodes will all go down as soon as a plane flies over them and trash your uptime.

    Whoops.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
  19. Yes. by mhore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We have 2 that we use for simulations in the Physics department. Well, i say 2...the 2nd one hasn't actually been assembled yet.

    The reason we use the beowulfs is because the problems are such that they're easy to break up into chunks. Consider the "system" (in our case) to be a cube with stuff inside that we want to process. We can break the cube up into smaller cubes and process those chunks, and then reassemble (must like is done with folding@home, seti@home, and the like).

    The difference? Well, instead of a program taking a day to run, it will take a few hours. Instead of taking a week, it may take a day.

    Sometimes a problem doesn't require a Beowulf. If you require several simulations, and the total CPU time amounts to 1 month...then you'd do just as well running the simulations on nodes and just waiting a month. If you REALLY want to know what's happening with a certain set of conditions, it's often times very useful to use the cluster to find out in a matter of hours.

    Mike.

    --

    Mmmm......sacrelicious.

    1. Re:Yes. by mhore · · Score: 3, Interesting
      So Linux is definitely a big help in scientific research, with or without Beowulf clusters.

      Yes, Linux is a huge help -- one reason that it is (and not the primary reason) is that it is free (or at least low cost). With the budget cuts that the state of TN (and I gather many others) have been facing, Linux is even more useful as we can get new nodes/whatever for our research while keeping costs low (as opposed to using an OS like Solaris which costs $$$). We can grab a bunch of parts off of the shelf and build a node for a few hundred dollars... instead of paying $2,000 for a high performance UNIX/Linux/whatever workstation.

      --

      Mmmm......sacrelicious.

    2. Re:Yes. by rodgerd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No. Solaris is only free on bitty boxes - single and dual CPU systems. Solaris costs a metric buttload on boxes that are capable of large SMP - so something like a cheap E4500 you pick up at a dot-bomb auction may require thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in licensing.

      Solaris used to be pretty much free; Sun have been incrementally ratcheting down the threshold for charging in the last few years.

  20. Amen to that. by pr0ntab · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've got about 9 plushie penguins sitting on my desk (hint, that's how many Altus's we have running our nasty compute jobs)

    I am QUITE CERTAIN this merger will mean even more gnarly Penguin configurations!

    Sun better watch the hell out. (go ahead fanboys, flame away)

    --
    Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
  21. It's always the cheapskates who complain. by hndrcks · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ahh... cheap shit Tulip cards and RealTek 8139s... now those are the kinds of quality hardware you can depend on! And you wonder why you have networking problems.

    Becker has spent a LOT of his time adding Linux support for poorly documented, mis-configured, total crap hardware - and you cheap assholes complain. You should read the kernel newsgroup archives - some developers suggested a few years back that they dump RTL81XX entirely because the firmware sucked so bad. You whiners should be thanking Scyld for their work.

    Or maybe buy a decent NIC instead.

    --
    Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
    1. Re:It's always the cheapskates who complain. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      the funny thing is, that winnt drivers dont exhibit the same god damn problems that becker's rtl8139 does. christ, the amount of collisions you get at 100/full duplex is ridiculous. the 8139too is a much better driver overall.

      i will say this though - the sis900 driver (and firware), written by the boys at sis, sucks far more ass than any of becker's drivers.

      at least becker's can autoneg reasonably well.

      the problem is that my company likes the $0.25US/per onboard price on an rtl8139c...

    2. Re:It's always the cheapskates who complain. by deadsaijinx* · · Score: 4, Informative

      Hey, Tulip cards and RealTek 81xxs are exactly what I'm running, and I've had no problems with my network, not even under linux. Scyld has done an excellent job implimenting them, and the hardware isn't total crap. It functions perfectly if you know what the hell you are doing with them.

      --
      YOU SUCK BALLS!
    3. Re:It's always the cheapskates who complain. by molarmass192 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Having spent some time working on a Linux hardware driver for an undocumented PCI card, I think most people have no clue at the amount of work involved. Deciphering bus calls when there's little to no documentation to hint as to what the calls are for is like building a puzzle without the final image to look at. Getting a piece is easy, but figuring out where it fits relative to other pieces is one mean task. Anybody who has the audacity to just sit back and complain without either filing bugs or submitting patches should just migrate back to Windows, their whining certainly will not be missed. Also, good point about cheap-shit hardware, you're not going to end up with a Ferrari if all you have is parts for a tricycle.

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
  22. Another form of control by stinky+wizzleteats · · Score: 2, Funny

    As I think more about it, it's very strange to me that this story was posted on Tuesday. As in troll Tuesday.

    What if there's a grand conspiracy involving Slashdot, the trolls, and a higher level of consciousness related to both?! What if the war between them is simply a stage on which to act out and therefore express the human tendency to resist authority, and, as such, to sanction it?!

    Oh, the horror! The agonizing, cold truth!

    ...

    Ok, which door was it again?

  23. Andre Hedrick by Gothmolly · · Score: 2

    The Linux IDE guy, also rules. ATA66, ATA100, SATA, thank you Andre! He helped me sort out a caching IDE controller once via private email.

    --
    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
  24. Execellent by nomadlogic · · Score: 3, Interesting

    well this is great news. i work for a visual fx company and we pretty much use Penguin gear for our render farms and IT infrastructure. These guys have great gear and great prices...so this sounds great.

    I thought Scyld was based in Anapolis Md. will they be moving out to Cali?

    --
    God is real, unless declared integer.
  25. Re:Oh yeah? Well... by damien_kane · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've got 3
    All made entirely out of hot grits
    All installed by Natalie Portman, who I stripped and petrified afterwards.

    Oh ya, they're all in here, too.

  26. Name for a Beowulf cluster of penguin computers? by phorm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And this is our supercomputing center.... also known as "the flock?"

    I wonder what they'd call something like this. What do you call a linked group of processing computers? Maybe it depends on purpose - like "the armada" for military Beowulfs, or perhaps the "inquisition" for the RIAA

  27. Re:Quick Question.... by Old+Wolf · · Score: 2, Funny

    From http://www.googlism.com/index.htm?ism=beowulf+clus ter&type=2 :

    beowulf cluster is offline
    beowulf cluster is such a high performance computing environment
    beowulf cluster is the only machine in the cluster that you can login to
    beowulf cluster is extremely powerful
    beowulf cluster is a bit extreme
    beowulf cluster is an investment
    beowulf cluster is available for $1195 per person
    beowulf cluster is a computer system conforming to the beowulf architecture
    beowulf cluster is to first connect to the university unix service via the common desktop environment
    beowulf cluster is now operational
    beowulf cluster is shown below
    beowulf cluster is via httpd running on your server node
    beowulf cluster is a little off the beaten path
    beowulf cluster is linux
    beowulf cluster is connected with 100
    beowulf cluster is reported
    beowulf cluster is the number of people waiting in line to run their code on the system
    beowulf cluster is 42nd on the list
    beowulf cluster is small

    You can tell an American thought of this page, can't you ;)

  28. No, Scyld will remain in Annapolis by becker · · Score: 2, Informative

    We have moved to different offices in Annapolis about a mile away from our original location. The view isn't as nice, but the new office space has a machine room that is about three times the size of the small office that we previously used.