Designing, building, installing, and configuring a Beowulf-style cluster presents a number of challenges, even for very capable system designers and system administrators. Once decisions about topology, layout, hardware, and interconnect technologies have been made (based primarily on the needs of the software and models you intend to run), a considerable amount of work must still be done to forge a working cluster.
Designing, building, installing, and configuring a Beowulf-style cluster presents a number of challenges, even for very capable system designers and system administrators. Once decisions about topology, layout, hardware, and interconnect technologies have been made (based primarily on the needs of the software and models you intend to run), a considerable amount of work must still be done to forge a working cluster.
Installing Linux on all of the nodes is often the most time-consuming task. Moreover, installs don’t happen just once. Despite the tendency of most computational scientists to forego system upgrades unless absolutely necessary, clusters and networks do change (due to hardware upgrades, outright hardware failures, and the desire to leverage the latest software), requiring OS upgrades or de novo installs.
For most clusters, the operating system on each of the compute nodes is essentially the same. For system administrators lucky enough to have completely identical node hardware, any one of a number of system cloning packages can ease the burden of installation. For example, once a system image is installed and working as desired on a single node, you can replicate its disk image with an inexpensive software package like Norton Ghost (for more information on cloning systems, see last month’s “System Cloning” feature, available online at http://www.linux-mag.com/2002-12/cloning_01.html).
However, time tends to erode the advantages of having identical hardware: as time goes on, newer hardware is added to grow the capabilities of the cluster. In other cases — as with university departments, small research…
Please log in to view this content.
Not Yet a Member?
Register with LinuxMagazine.com and get free access to the entire archive, including:
