[wplug] Beowulf 2.0 iso available

[David Tessitor]

Draco Aardvark wrote:

> What is PennState's download page?

<ftp://carroll.cac.psu.edu/pub/linux/distributions>

I plan to burn and bring a CD to the next WPLUG GUM and Mike O'Connor
should have his new Dell notebook with a burner there also.

>
> Does beowulf have a home page? Where?
>
> This is rather cool, you can build a rather nice computer quite cheep!
> Just think, for $240, you can get 16 of the 486's at the expo mart, an
> that's 1056 MHz!

It is a cool technology with a lot of promise.  Unfortunately, I don't
think the speed comparison is quite that simple a computation.  It's my
understanding that  programs must be designed to take advantage of
distributed computation, and even then the comparable speed would be
unlikely linear.  The big advantage is that by having a network of
desktops set up under a Beowulf arrangement, an organization could also
use them as a much larger computer for certain jobs whenever they aren't
being used for their independent purposes.

As you can see on the Beowulf site, the project is using current
mainstream PC's in their research, though it originally started on 486's
(then the machine of the day).  With today's desktop speeds, the
collective processing capability could easily be extended quite
significantly.  I merely mentioned using the Unisys boxes as a possible
exercise to help WPLUG members learn about Beowulf, not as a workable
everyday replacement for today's mainstream PC's.

Dave