Microcluster

So, I have found a project to put some of thoes 30 P3 machines in my basement to use. I am going to take 6 of them, and turn them into a compute cluster. Sure, the GFLOPS will suck, but it will be a fun experiment. Who knows... maybe it will turn out better than I think it will. Either way, it will be an experience, and I will get to build a custom enclosure for it all.

Now, should I make it a Linux or Windows cluster? Can I run dedicated servers on it? (Do dedicated game servers parallelize well?) I guess we will find out.

I already know I am going to split the PSUs. 1 PSU for 2 mobo. That way, it will cut down on energy usage. I already have the IDE HDD and optical drive I will need as well as the network gear that will form the "High-speed" interconnect.

Anyone else here ever worked on a cluster before? Any suggestions?

I would suggest Linux right off the bat.

garfi3ld wrote: and photos

Most definitely.

With my work schedule, I dont expect to have it completed any time REALLY soon. But hopefully by the end of the year...

NitrosDragon wrote: I would suggest Linux right off the bat.

Seconded. FWIW I highly recommend Link: CentOS - it's roughly the same thing as RedHat Enterprise Linux, but free. We use a combination of the two for all of our production servers (if our customers feel "wrong" about not having to pay through the nose for a server OS, we'll sell them RHEL...). Anyways for a particular set of our production servers we used steps very similar to Link: This Guide to get it going. For the most part it really was that simple.

EDIT: Actually Link: this guide is what I used when setting up the cluster originally I'm pretty sure. It has a bit more detail which I always like, but the link I gave originally is more updated and tailored to CentOS.

Thanks Reaper. I will look all of that over when i begin the project.

Talk about a F@H machince, this will be it. You'll cure cancer in no time!

I want to see some pics of this as you get er' going. This should be fasinating to see!

I hope to get going on this tonight after work. I found out that we are missing the battery to our digital camera, so I guess I will take some pics with my webcam. While the quality may not be stellar, you will still get the idea of what is going on.

Alright, first pictures...

This is a quick picture of what I am working with.


Typical insides,

Specs include 900MHz P3, 512-768MB PC-133 SDRAM, 100GB HDD.

After I combine all 6 systems, I will have the following!!!

Anyone know what system this is?

I know its a scene from Batman the animated series. Its a giant machine that creates duplicates of various persons of influence throughout Gotham City. Can't remember the name or why exactly it was doing it but it did it just the same.


At least I'm pretty sure that it is what I think it is

Reaper wrote: FWIW I highly recommend Link: CentOS - it's roughly the same thing as RedHat Enterprise Linux, but free.

I should mention that one of my servers runs CentOS and it works like a charm.

Hasbeen wrote: I know its a scene from Batman the animated series. Its a giant machine that creates duplicates of various persons of influence throughout Gotham City. Can't remember the name or why exactly it was doing it but it did it just the same.


At least I'm pretty sure that it is what I think it is

You got the show right.... just need the name of the computer shown in the pic.

L0rdG1gabyt3 wrote:

Hasbeen wrote: I know its a scene from Batman the animated series. Its a giant machine that creates duplicates of various persons of influence throughout Gotham City. Can't remember the name or why exactly it was doing it but it did it just the same.


At least I'm pretty sure that it is what I think it is

You got the show right.... just need the name of the computer shown in the pic.

Holographic Analytical Reciprocating Digital Computer or just H.A.R.D.A.C

Happy now?

Hasbeen wrote: Holographic Analytical Reciprocating Digital Computer or just H.A.R.D.A.C

Happy now?

Actually....... yes! Good job on the ID!

So when is SkyNet gonna be online, i'm building my bunker as we speak!

So when is SkyNet gonna be online, i'm building my bunker as we speak!

As soon as I can use the chip from the T1000 from the future to program the AI that will design the T1000 that comes back from the future.... wha???

Maybe, the completed project should look like this:


Any geek worth his/her weight in transistors should know what system this one is.

L0rdG1gabyt3 wrote: Maybe, the completed project should look like this:

Any geek worth his/her weight in transistors should know what system this one is.

Do you know just how many transistors your talking about here? I ain't exactly what you call skinny.

Hasbeen wrote: Do you know just how many transistors your talking about here? I ain't exactly what you call skinny.

Maybe not!!

Do you know what system is pictured in the previous post though?

Honestly not really. It looks before my time, like it was a scene out of some movie in the 80s. but the console has a few bits that remind me of that old 2001 a Space Odyssey. I saw parts of that movie way back when I was a kid (early-mid 90s). I liked HAL he was just misunderstood really But its the blue space suit in the back ground that is driving me nuts. I feel like I've seen it, that or I've gone a bit farther off the deep end.

Hasbeen wrote: Honestly not really. It looks before my time, like it was a scene out of some movie in the 80s. but the console has a few bits that remind me of that old 2001 a Space Odyssey. I saw parts of that movie way back when I was a kid (early-mid 90s). I liked HAL he was just misunderstood really But its the blue space suit in the back ground that is driving me nuts. I feel like I've seen it, that or I've gone a bit farther off the deep end.

Correct again! Its HAL-9000! Now, the thing you were wrong on is the age of the movie. 2001: A Space Odyssey is from 1968. Not the 80's.

Good morning Dave.

Just to kinda get back on topic here... I plan on getting the software setup by this weekend.

Got to do some more reading on how this all works and make my Linux distro choice. Deciding between Ubuntu Server, and CentOS.

Ubuntu server has been pretty nice for me, I've literally run for months on end without a reboot. I don't have any experience with CentOS yet, though.

L0rdG1gabyt3 wrote: Just to kinda get back on topic here... I plan on getting the software setup by this weekend.

Got to do some more reading on how this all works and make my Linux distro choice. Deciding between Ubuntu Server, and CentOS.

Use whichever you're more familiar with. If you're familiar with neither, probably go Ubuntu, I've never tried it before but I've heard it's friendlier to most new Linux users as well as they release updates a heck of a lot faster, and have a larger repository. CentOS actually ONLY backports security & bugfixes only into the core packages during a release, so you have to wait a full MAJOR release level to get a lot of the updates that would come with something like Ubuntu server. I actually appreciate that, though, because I don't have a lot of time to learn all the nuances of every little package that's getting installed, any why package X now conflicts with package Y, etc. Now, if I absolutely needed a newer release of something, I can always the package's repository to the update manager & be good to go.

I havent actually used Linux to this extent since college when I HAD to for certain classes. That is partially why I have been leaning towards Ubuntu. The tutorials you (Reaper) pointed me towards seem to be for HA clusters, and Im looking to make this a LB cluster. If I can have both.... that would be perfect!

Then this is your answer (as far as CentOS is concerned): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Cluster_Suite (it does both)

Reaper wrote: Then this is your answer (as far as CentOS is concerned): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hat_Cluster_Suite (it does both)

I will look at that! Thanks again.

The hardware has been pulled and ready to be "clusterized". Upon the advice of Reaper, I have decided on CentOS with the RedHat Cluster Suite. Unfortunatley even thought the RHCS allows for High Availability (HA), and Load Balancing (LB), it does not add in the High Performance Cluster (HPC) feature.

Here are some pics of my progress today.....

Gutting the mid-tower cases...


Still more case gutting....


All hardware pulled.


I will work on getting the boards connected along with their respective HDDS. Each one has a 20GB drive and a 80GB drive. The 80GB units are contained in hotswap bays that are initialized with a key. So if I decide to hook thoes up to the cluster, I can turn them on and off as needed, or use them for specific programs/server configurations.

More pics after they are all running... possibly even a video.