Linux for a Beowulf Cluster

Superpoo · 02-08-2004, 03:17 PM

Hey, I'm in a class at my college where we are trying to build a small 5 computer beowulf cluster. We are going to have one master CPU connected to the campus network, with 4 others attached to that one. We are planning to log on to the master using the network... I think. My question is, what version of Linux should we use? I'm not quite sure as to the exact specifications of the machines, as we've only been in class a few days, but I think they are P2 350 - 400's. Each machine has it's own hard drive, and we plan on just mirroring the installation. Any help you can give me is appreciated!

lo_tek · 02-09-2004, 02:18 AM

well, according to http://www.beowulf.org/software/software.html the distro of choice is redhat. Although, I would presume any distro would work well. It all depends how experienced you/your class mates are with linux. I always push Slackware, cuz I like it, but it does take a bit of getting used to. However, RH is a decent distro that has sadly moved over to the darker side of commercial computing. RH 9 should still be available for download from http://www.linuxiso.org

As far as system reqs go, a p2 shouldn't have any trouble running *nix along with an xserver for some gui-ness

How much ram are they pushing?

Well, that about covers it... good luck with the project and let us know how it goes.

whiteknight · 02-10-2004, 08:06 PM

If you have RH9 running in GUI make sure you have plenty of RAM. It tends to need alot more then the other distros.

02-08-2004, 03:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
Superpoo Newb Techie Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1	Linux for a Beowulf Cluster Hey, I'm in a class at my college where we are trying to build a small 5 computer beowulf cluster. We are going to have one master CPU connected to the campus network, with 4 others attached to that one. We are planning to log on to the master using the network... I think. My question is, what version of Linux should we use? I'm not quite sure as to the exact specifications of the machines, as we've only been in class a few days, but I think they are P2 350 - 400's. Each machine has it's own hard drive, and we plan on just mirroring the installation. Any help you can give me is appreciated!

02-09-2004, 02:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
lo_tek Newb Techie Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 46	well, according to http://www.beowulf.org/software/software.html the distro of choice is redhat. Although, I would presume any distro would work well. It all depends how experienced you/your class mates are with linux. I always push Slackware, cuz I like it, but it does take a bit of getting used to. However, RH is a decent distro that has sadly moved over to the darker side of commercial computing. RH 9 should still be available for download from http://www.linuxiso.org As far as system reqs go, a p2 shouldn't have any trouble running *nix along with an xserver for some gui-ness How much ram are they pushing? Well, that about covers it... good luck with the project and let us know how it goes. __________________ [--lo_tek--]

02-10-2004, 08:06 PM	#3 (permalink)
whiteknight Junior Techie Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 66	If you have RH9 running in GUI make sure you have plenty of RAM. It tends to need alot more then the other distros. __________________ litigious *******s

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