> I have a need to set up a high performance computing facility based on
> Linux and a 4-processor system with a lot of memory. As a first go around I
> have configured a Dell PE 6350 Quad 400MHz w/1MB Cache Redundant Server
> from their web page with 4GB of memory.
> The processors are PII Xeon's.
>
> Some questions for the group:
>
> 1. Will Linux run on a system like this and will it utilize the hardware
> fully?
Linux can only really cope with 2Gig of RAM maximum currently.
> 2. Are there other (cheaper) vendors around that might provide a similar
> (or even more powerful i.e. 8 processors/more memory) configuration.
> 3. Does Linux have any problems with running large memory processes (say in
> excess of 2.5GB)
An x86 processor cannot really efficiently run processes where process size
+ physical address space >4Gig. So with 2Gig of memory your limit for process
size in Linux is a bit under 2Gig.
The xeon has some extra hacks to support very large memory areas but these
are relatively hackish (kind of segment registers again) and not supported
in Linux yet.
With Compaq releasing their high commercial optimising compilers for the
big Alpha machines at relatively low prices you might want to do a comparison
with something like a dual Alpha 21264 board - especially if you have very
high memory bandwidth or FPU needs.
Alan
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