Hello All, I am another newbie seeking more basic advice. And from reading this list over the past months I realize how little I have learned about Beowulf systems from my readings and my few experiments with Parallel Knoppix. Nevertheless, let me get on with my question and stop wasting time.
I am performing embarrassingly parallel, Monte Carlo calculations, some using integers and some using floating points (some written in C and some written in FORTRAN), and I am tired of waiting for 4 months for my dual Xeon 2.0 machine to finish a calculation. So, I want to start off with a dedicated COW (perhaps running OpenMosix or Sun's free Grid software or something else) and later move to a true Beowulf system once I learn to properly write parallel software. I have been a linux user for 8 years, but consider myself to still be a beginner. I have a room with 4, 15 amp circuits and a 20 000 btu air conditioning unit installed that I can use for the next 2 years, but after that I may need to find another home for the system. My dilemma is that for my budget I can buy one of the following solutions: Solution #1 A custom built "personal cluster" with 8 dual core processors either Xeons or Opterons (16 cores and 16 GB of memory) with all the software installed, read to go. Solution #2 I can buy 16 workstations, each with Dual Core Athlon X64 4400+ processors (32 cores and 32 GB of memory) upon which I will probably install either Warewulf or Oscar. Solution #3 I can buy 32 HP or Dell "mass market" desktops running dual core chips (64 cores and 64 GB memory) upon which I will probably install either Warewulf or Oscar. (Note that I read the discussion this past November on "cheap PCs this christmas") Obviously, I get more computing power in the last two solutions, but at what cost in terms of time and upkeep? Once the system is up and running I can dedicate about 5 hours per week, and probably no more, and CAD$ ~500 per year for maintenance. Do any of you have some sage advice? Have any of you used a "personal cluster"? Any thoughts you may have will be very much appreciated. Thank you all for your time. Wishing you the best from a cool Montreal, Don -- "Melting rocks today for a better tomorrow . . . " Don R. Baker, Professor of Geochemistry, Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University 3450 rue University, Montreal, QC Canada H3A 2A7 514-398-7485 _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, [email protected] To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
