Sort inputs, outputs

[Kevin Lim]

Hi,

I have setup hadoop on 2 machines and am now trying to see if it is 
working properly.  I have 3 questions:
1. Do I need to setup files specially for them to work with sort?  My 
self-made test files always causes the map tasks to fail.  They're just 
text files with lines such as "123456 abcdef", "789012 ghijkl", etc.

2. How do I check to make sure the sort output is truly sorted, when 
using the randomwriter + sort test?  Is there any specific way to view 
the output files?

3. Are the outputs of the test programs typically part-00000, 
part-00001, ...part-XXXXX?  Is there any suggested method for merging 
them?

Thanks,

Kevin Lim