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Clusters at Home?
dallastgi asks: "Sitting at my desk (a bargain second hand, due to lack of drawers) I looked at the side and realized I could build a nice little cluster, on either side of it. It already has wooden rails for rack mounts, holes in the back (from previous cables for computers) for cooling, and several computers in the cupboard. I just needs a door, power and cooling ducts. What is the best possible way to power 6+ motherboards, with a minimal amount of power-points and heat dissipation? What is the best way to cool those CPU's in minimal space? I'm sure many others on Slashdot have thought about their own clusters, so what are your recommendations on how to go about this?"
Mini-ITX Cluster has some useful info: http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/cluster/
But yeah.. what do you want the cluster for?
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If you have the sort of application which scales well across a parallel processing environment then even the rather underpowered Via Mini-Itx boards would do a good job.
If you had a cluster of Prescott P4's you could probably heat your house all winter.
How to keep it cool. Hmmm. Eh moving a lot of air with a fan usually works. Again this adds to the noise.
Put it in some room wich you can ventilate. Get a big fan and blow it through your rack. If needed use an airco to cool the room.
Most people like their working room a little bit warmer then computers like their room. If you add more computers they might out vote you and force you to admin them in freezing air.
So my answer? I wouldn't put a dozen computers in my desk. In fact I haven't my setup uses a long extension cable and a kvm box. Very very quit. No bulky PC or cables to hide. Nice cooling on the PC. In fact since it is winter I even have to switch some fans off as the HD's are getting a bit cold.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Sitting at my desk (a bargain second hand, due to lack of drawers) I looked at the side and realized I could build a nice little cluster, on either side of it. It already has wooden rails for rack mounts, holes in the back (from previous cables for computers) for cooling, and several computers in the cupboard.
Never, ever, EVER put electronic parts anywhere in the general vicinity of wood - you're just asking for a conflagration if you do.
One of my best friends was in a professor in a big EE lab that had some benches and risers made of wood - and subsequently burned to the ground. Thereafter he spent several years of his life doing nothing but filling out millions of dollars worth of claims with insurance companies. Trust me - you do not want to go there.
[And he was one of the lucky ones - he got out unscathed.]
Once you have it powered you cluster, have a look at Clusterix, a live-cd distro with openMosix. You can test your power supply and hardware w/out a full install.
(besides fire)...
Even if you're comfortable about the fire risk, you'll need some VERY good cooling -- essentially, keeping the interior below 75F throughout -- to avoid another problem.
Even if the heat doesn't cause warping, eventually the wood joints will start shrinking and/or becoming brittle, causing the desk to fall apart.
Even if you don't mind losing the desk (and the work you put into customizing it), collapse of those wooden rails might damage some equipment.