Interesting question. The following is my opinion and may not be shared by everyone. I think the best working definition was given in the original book "How to Build a Beowulf" by Sterling, Becker et al: (brackets are my additions)
".. a collection of personal computers [or servers] interconnected by widely available networking technology running anyone of several open source Unix-like operating systems [most likely Linux]. " Beowulf is more of a concept than a project. And after hearing Tom Sterling compare Open Source software to public utility standards, I became convinced more than ever that there will never be a "standard Beowulf" because everybody's needs are different. Beowulf components are connected using publicly available open standards. The concept has worked amazingly well and as I like to think has created a paradigm shift where we are now designing machines around problems and not fitting problems to machines. Think of building a home without public electrical, plumbing standards etc. It would be quite an expensive endeavor. Now think at the other extreme if there was a standard home design we all had to follow (like a standard Beowulf specification). Beowulf is in the middle, we can build our homes (clusters) to suite our needs. Certainly there are "reference designs" and similar needs for clusters as there are for homes. But, like all homes, clusters seem to evolve to the needs of the owners. You can read more about the history of Beowulf clusters at following links. historical perspective at Linux Magazine (reg required): http://www.linux-mag.com/id/1378 On-line Magazine: http://www.clustermonkey.net Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_(computing) And the collective wisdom of this list is always ready to serve you -- just don't ask about programming languages for at least 6 months :) -- Doug > Hi there, > As as a newbie I have a question, "Is Beowulf a clustering standard?" if > yes > "What makes Beowulf a standard" > As I read about Beowulf, it appeared to me as a method for starting Linux > clustering, but some people call it a standard, I couldn't understand that > what makes Beowulf a standard, so your help is appreciated > > thank you all > > > !DSPAM:45f87298129171409419350! > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, [email protected] > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > > > !DSPAM:45f87298129171409419350! > -- Doug _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, [email protected] To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
