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Date:      Tue, 15 Nov 2005 16:12:02 +0100
From:      Arden <arden@nildram.co.uk>
To:        "Andrew P." <infofarmer@gmail.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: makings of a junk yard cluster ??
Message-ID:  <20051115161202.65aa9156@vector.linux.vnet>
In-Reply-To: <cb5206420511150746x7ef91794m2259921face4a6a4@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <20051115151548.36d2b78a@vector.linux.vnet> <cb5206420511150746x7ef91794m2259921face4a6a4@mail.gmail.com>

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On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:46:02 +0300
"Andrew P." <infofarmer@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 11/15/05, Arden <arden@nildram.co.uk> wrote:
> > Hi Folk
> >
> > like most people involved in IT you tend to build you a "junk yard"
> > of redundant machines
> >
> > Ive just been through mine and found could at a push make 5 x86 PCs
> >
> > 2x amd 400mhz
> > 2x via 700mhz
> > 1x amd duron 1200
> >
> > also have lots of spare nic cards
> >
> > Ive never looked at clusters before and this is just for fun (must
> > have way to much time on my hands) :)
> >
> > So I need to know would it be possible to build a cluster from
> > these ? I'm not sure if the nodes need to be matched in any way ?
> >
> > dose anyone know where to find an idiots to setting one up ?
> >
> > also what would the equivelent power be i.e would i just be making a
> > 1gig space heater ?
> 
> It's hard to tell for sure, but one AMD 3000+ should
> eat them all for lunch. So there's no practical interest
> in it. But you can learn much from using all these
> machines together.
> 
> First, do you need a real-deal cluster with MPI and
> other industrial protocols? If I were you, I'd call these
> machines a farm, and would first try some fail-over
> mechanisms (routing, http, dns, ipsec). We usually
> get to test fail-over using virtual pc's. Real boxes
> are somewhat harder to manage, but they are real,
> and the experience you get is a real hands-on
> "encounter".
> 
> Then, some distributed jobs would be fun. I use
> distcc to compile many large pieces of software.
> Try it. Then you can try running something like
> dnetc or boinc and compare the results your
> farm produce to those your desktop shows.
> 
> If you have a lot of NIC's, populate the boxes with
> all of them. Install FreeBSD everywhere and you
> can emulate _very_ complicated environments with
> vlans, trunks, OSPF, BGP and what not. Then go
> and get your CCIE.
> 
> <...>
> 
> Take care!

thanks 
 
I'm going to try and make a start on on the installs for this project
this evening what version of freebsd would be best to use would the
latest really be the greatest ?

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