From owner-freebsd-cluster Wed Dec 22 8:48:47 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-cluster@freebsd.org Received: from yta.attmil.ne.jp (yta.attmil.ne.jp [165.76.24.5]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5710C15041 for ; Wed, 22 Dec 1999 08:48:44 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from tiberius@yta.attmil.ne.jp) Received: from yta.attmil.ne.jp (02.gate0.yokota.attmil.ne.jp [165.76.24.33]) by yta.attmil.ne.jp (8.8.8+Spin/3.6W-CONS(11/09/99)) id BAA03883; Thu, 23 Dec 1999 01:48:36 +0900 (JST) Message-ID: <38610100.2D3330D7@yta.attmil.ne.jp> Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 01:49:04 +0900 From: Robert Hugh Force II X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en,ja MIME-Version: 1.0 To: David De Silva Cc: "Ronald G. Minnich" , freebsd-cluster@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Web resources References: <009701bf4c8d$00b89620$174c13d4@imperium.tele2.net.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-cluster@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG David, Beowulf, in my opinion, refers to a class or type of computer (in this case a clustered computer). Ronald's extract from the Beowulf mailing list tends to support that view point. A Beowulf class cluster computer could be named anything and still be a Beowulf class cluster computer. A well chosen name to distinguish a Beowulf running FreeBSD from other Beowulf computers would be, I think, a good thing to have. Beowulf is the title character and hero of an anonymous, alliterative Old English epic poem about the Danish people and the founding of the Danish House. I have not read or heard of why the original Beowulf was given that name. Does anyone know? The University of Spain at Barcelona (http://www.maia.ub.es/dsg/hidra/index.html) has a Beowulf class computer they call Hidra. I am not sure why it is spelled with an I instead of a Y, but a good picture of the mythical Hydra beast is on their web page. Greek mythology tells us the HYDRA was a serpent with nine heads, one of which was immortal. This would seem to be an excellent example of 'clustering', even if it is mythological. Another definition of hydra is a many-sided problem that persists or grows worse even after part of it is solved. This would seem to fit a Beowulf class cluster computer. The many-sided problem of maintaining and using a Beowulf would tend to persist for a long time after solving any parts of the puzzle. A third definition of Hydra is a constellation of the southern sky that is the largest of all. We would want the FreeBSD based Beowulf to be the largest and best known of all, wouldn't we? I like the idea of using HYDRA to denote a Beowulf class cluster computer. By the way, I am not familiar with the details of the "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Universe". Why would Zaphod imply it is restricted to two nodes? Bob "Use the" Force fMFG David De Silva wrote: > > besides, I don't even LIKE beowulf as a name. Can't we do better? > > I'd suggest Zaphod but it might imply it's restricted to 2 nodes :-) > > Hydra's good. Or Borg? > > > beowulf + freebsd is a misnomer, since beowulf is pretty specifically > > linux (just ask don becker -- I did). > > Extract from the Beowulf mailing list FAQ at http://www.dnaco.net/~kragen/beowulf-faq.txt > > 1. What's a Beowulf? [1999-05-13] > > It's a kind of high-performance massively parallel computer built > primarily out of commodity hardware components, running a free-software > operating system like Linux or FreeBSD, interconnected by a private > high-speed network. > > /David > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-cluster" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-cluster" in the body of the message