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Linux Software

Beowulf For Dummies? 122

Posted by michael from the slaying-the-dragon dept.
Pheno writes: "This looks like a fun LUG project. A simple setup for a Linux cluster called OSCAR from the Open Cluster Group. The people behind it are Oak Ridge National Labs and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and some private companies. According to this Newsforge (part of the Keiretsu) story their 'Supercomputer on a CD' software is supposed to make it so easy to put a Beowulf cluster together a high school student or MCSE can do it in a few hours."
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Beowulf for Dummies? More

Beowulf for Dummies?

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  • just ask my genius boss, who cannot figure out the jumpers on a motherboard. w00w00 !!!

  • Re:*sigh* MCSE bashing (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Even if a story doesn't explicitly bash Microsoft, there's a very good chance that a story will contain comments mentioning Microsoft in a derogatory manner. If not, there's an equally good chance it at least praises Linux.

    One of the first rules of karma whoring is to bash Microsoft and praise Linux whenever possible. I frequently see non-flamebait comments supporting Microsoft moderated down. (not necessarily to -1, but you see them in the moderation totals). Whenever I post a comment supporting Microsoft, I post as AC to avoid losing karma. When I have moderator points, I almost never modeterate Microsoft-supporting comments up out of fear of metamoderation, and never moderate down trolls that bash Microsoft support Linux, knowing that everyone else will moderate it up as Funny. I know which direction a post like this is going. (3rd rule of karma whoring: state that you are going to be moderated down for this)

  • Re:QED (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You're right. The first time I installed 2000 I shrieked in horror at the clock cycles being wasted as the start menu faded into existance, and then promptly wiped my hard drive.

  • You're just jealous... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You're just jealous... because you don't have the knowledge to pass it.

    Burn.
  • Funny. When I read this story I didn't get the impression that either high school students or MCSEs were being called retards. I took the comment as meaning "someone without years of Linux experience could get this running."

    Ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing. A high school student -- or someone who has only dealt with Windows OS -- who wants to explore Linux clustering is almost certainly not stupid. This person is looking to expand his or her understanding of networking and computing.

    Personally, I think the idea of giving people who are bright, but have never set up a Linux cluster before, simple software tools to get started in this area is marvelous. Once they master the basics, they can move on to more advanced, more complex admin methods.

    And another thing - in the original article, a big reason mentioned for making simpler clustering software is that it helps eliminate the tedium of setting up machine after machine, all with the same configuration. This is A Good Thing for people of any skill level.

    - Robin
  • Hate to be a cynic, but if you are in true need of clustered computing, then you probably aren't much of a dummy.

  • It'd probably use something like this for its logo. [despair.com]

    (Interestingly, I have that exact picture in my office...)

    --Joe
    --
  • When people try to make thing "easier" for the user it gets harder to get it to do what you want do. For instance has anyone tried to solve a problem in VB that takes more code than the code require in C/C++. I just hope they do not take out the raw power from it just because.
  • I whole-heartedly agree with this comment.

    Just because I got my MCSE by studying the little red Exam Cram books for a week before I took the tests doesn't mean they are simple.

    I mean, just because I got a score of 800 on the IIS 4.0 test without ever having used the product before doesn't mean the MCSE is a worthless certification (that was my lowest score).

    For the record - I've been Microsoft free for two years. It's a liberating feeling.

  • Surely they aren't idiots if they use linux.

    Muhaha! That's rich. This guy should get a +1 Funny. Yeah, like people using linux can't be idiots. Best joke I've heard all day.

    Of course, that's not saying that all linux users are idiots. Many (I'd say "most", but that'd be generalizing too much, and would also be incorrect based on empirical evidence of my own) are not. But many are. These include the kind that won't read books or documentation or man pages, and expect everything to be spoon-fed to them. To paraphrase a smart guy I know, "Give a man a fish and he'll insult you and leave. Teach a man to fish and he'll complain about just wanting the fish and you owing him one. This is the Linux Experience."

  • > He says "Yes, but I'm gonna replace it, I have the new machine all set up on the network, but when I put in it's IP address, it doesn't work because it says another machine is using that address."

    And we begin to get a glimpse of what's been going on in Redmond this week...
    --
    • 1 comment
    below your current threshold.
  • I'm a dummy. And I made a beowulf cluster. Check it out here [alignment.net].

    Any dummy can make a beowulf cluster.

    ----------
  • Just becuase I post on slashdot with a strong opinons that entices people does not make me a 15 year old high schooler.
    It's not your strong opinions but your juvenile ones that lead us to believe that you are 15 years old!

    And I believe that the word you are looking for is incite [m-w.com], not entice [m-w.com]...
    --
    You think being a MIB is all voodoo mind control? You should see the paperwork!
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • So after the MCSE sets up your beowulf, what do you do next? Run PovPVM on it? Seriously, nothing wrong with Beowulf, but at this stage, you really only need one of these if you have an application you want to run and are willing to write it yourself.
  • Please. It's not MSCE bashing, it's high-school-student bashing.
  • I think you're misunderstanding that anyone (yes this includes linus) could set up a win32 cluster. Why? Windows does much of the hard work for you. This looks like something that will do the same for linux.

    Oh and ... it was a joke. lighten up.

  • what ideas are you refering to ? - making killer apps ? you should *really* do a reality check...
  • Distributed Stupidity?

    Ignorant Redundance?

    "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
  • Poe rolls in his grave. Maybe it's the cognac, though.
  • You don't need knowledge to pass MSCE exams... Just the right amount of stupidity. ;-P

    In all seriousness, though, it sounds like this could be useful for small upstarts who need serious processing power, but don't have the budget to have a dedicated person to build and maintain a cluster.

    It's also gotta be helpful for those of us who are interested in clusters, but don't have the spare time to devote to figuring it all out. It's not a "do all" solution, but it will help.
  • You know... There are MCSE's out there that have a clue. I happen to have an MCSE+Internet. I also support over 50 Solaris and Linux boxes. When I say support, I mean production web, app, LDAP, database, DNS, etc. Not just a bunch of bullshit servers. I like to think I am a jack-of-all-trades and there are not a whole lot of people that you can sit down in front of any computer and fix it. My home network has a majority of Linux servers, but I keep others around for practice. The blanket statements that MCSEs are idiots pisses me off sometimes. I have met a few that didn't have a clue, but I have also met some UNIX SA's that made me look like a fucking guru. There are idiots everywhere....

    While the above is funny, I don't think it is true all around.
  • I know it's probably a bit too much to expect journalistic integrity out of a site like Slashdot, but can you at least consider the possibility of perhaps posting at least one story that isn't chock-full of anti Microsoft/MCSE bigotry? In case you've forgotten, Slashdot has a huge readership, and you're likely to alienate a large percentage of that readership (and by extension, a large percentage of your banner ad viewership) with statements like the one you make about MCSEs. Has anybody ever explained the meaning of the word "objectivity" to you?
    I agree, but posting things here isn't going to help anything. If you really want to let someone know how much it bothers you, then write to the andover.net executives and let them know what you think. Their names, phone numbers, and email addresses are on this page at the bottom under OSDN Corporate Contacts:

    http://www.osdn.com/ad_contacts.shtml [osdn.com]

    Let them know what you think.

  • ... Dummies making Beowulf clusters.
  • That is assuming you can get an MSCE to read a book...

    --
    Eric is chisled like a Greek Godess
  • ...so sorry folks, please bear with my post - i am still too foolish to take the "preview" button seriously.

  • actually, no - i didn't graduate. I asked to leave at the beginning of this year, due to what they referred to as poor decisions. You're all smart folk, i'm sure you don't need me to tell you what that meant ;p.

    as for this comment:
    It's a good thing you went to that smug elitist school, I wonder if the project lost interest because the student body was more interested in getting drunk and laid (as any high school student should god damn it).

    All I can say is, I give my eternal praise to Slashdot - there's more wisdom here in a day than most places see in a year ;).

  • Dummies like me. I've wanted a small Beowulf cluster (like 3 or 4 machines) just to play around with since I heard about them. I love coding, but I hate doing sysadmin stuff, so I never wanted to spend the time learning how to set up a cluster manually. I have been hoping for years that somebody would put together a package like this.

    This will also allow developers to write applications designed for clusters with at least some chance that other people will be able to use them. I have always wanted to run distributed neural nets on a Beowulf cluster, and now I'll actually be able to do it! Woo-hoo!

  • I just wanna say, FUCK YEAH! Although I am not in the same boat because I am a semester out of high school, and now not going to colledge so I am a 'visionary' and 'going to be rich someday'. And fuck the mpaa.
  • I'm in grade 12 at high school. My term project for IT was to set up a beowulf machine.

    My school uses Linux exclusively. Blender for 3D, Gimp for art, StarOffice, KDE.

    I set up a beowulf cluster and had it running within three days (two classes plus some extra time).

    We're not stupid. MSCE's might be stupid. But I am sho' nuff not. Don't say stupid things, /., you've been accused of enough bigotry recently.
  • The key here is "a" i.e. "a high school student". It's a generalisation - for an average high school student this statement is correct. As with all generalisations, it is understood that there will be exceptions to the rule e.g. "plants are green - except those that aren't."

    The Slashdot crew did not add the remark about high school students - they just added the bit about MCSE. (Given the hundreds of MCSEs that have applied for some positions at work on the basis that they have an MCSE but no IT experience, this dig is totally understandable...)

    Chill out!
  • I hate microsoft.

    They stole many talented people's ideas, fortunes and futures to feed their shareholders.

    Everytime someone uses a Microsoft product, another bit of freedom and democracy dies.

    Fortunately, some day, maybe no in my lifetime, your piece of shit corporation and product will get exactly what it deserves...elimination from the public splotlight and the marketplace, and relegated to history as the "Yugo" of science and technology.

  • Feh. Did you know that George " " Bush is an MCSE? Q.E.D.

    Have you grepped Google for "dumb motherfucker"?

  • I'm in highschool and I resent being classified with MCSEs...Please, consider the fact that you could insult us up-and-comming-geeks by saying that we're on the same level as those...uhm..."engineers". :P

    Cheers
  • Hey, that's about the only thing they CAN do! I mean, to become one, one has to read through all those Micro$hit books!

    It's applying what one reads, but then again, if you ever looked into one of those....

    Hertog

  • Idea: set this up on my 3 different VMWare Linux virtual boxes.

  • Everyone toots on about what Beowulf can do... But to get a good idea of what it really is, can someone explain to me what Beowulf CANNOT do as of yet? I'm not a highschool student anymore, and I'm afraid I don't have my MCSE, so be easy on me...
  • The projects have different objectives. Scyld builds it clustering by making kernel modifications (it's based on BPROC), so what you end up running is a hacked version of Linux. If this is OK with you, along with the other implications of the Scyld changes, then it's an interesting system. Otherwise, it's not an option.

    OSCAR is built in the more classic style of clustering, by building the distribution on top of the kernel. As such, it's an interesting and useful effort.

    Scyld and OSCAR are really complimentary efforts. They make different assumptions and take completely different approaches.

  • ...but what makes a CNE better than an MCSE...

    Or is this Yet Another Microsoft Bash?

    Seriously Slashdot fuck up with this crap already.

    Linux IS better, we all know it. MCSEs are just learning the ropes. They are no stupider than you were when you were trying to rename a file for the first time. (mv?)

    michael (the guy who "wrote" the /. story) were you born with the innate ability to compute? Go get an MCSE and then make fun of them.

    I have one, I don't feel dumber for the experience, but I do feel about 20K richer!

    ---
  • Age is not relative to experience. The only thing relative to experience is itself.

  • It already exists...last I heard it consisted of the House of Representatives and Senate.

    (You knew someone would make this comparison sooner or later, didn't you? C'mon, didn't you...?)

  • In case you hadn't noticed, most people that bash MCSEs don't do so because of the OS that they work with, it's because the vast majority of the ones we run into are incompetent fiils that couldn't troubleshoot their way out of a paper bag with a manual. Before you get all upset, I'm not passing judgement on any individuals (you included), but taken as a whole, MCSEs are pretty much the bottom rung of the IT world. Sorry - sometimes the truth hurts..
  • I can accept that. See, I'm looking for excuses to do it, rather than doing it for a pre-existing task. Just knowing I can walk into my workroom/office at school, point to a stack of Dell OptiPlex XL-5100s and say "This is my cluster, there are many others like it, but this one is mine." is really the point. If running a web server isn't optimal, is it -possible-? If it's not possible, okay. Is there a Beowulf SETI@Home client yet?
  • Mosix? I suppose it's no surprise that I haven't heard of it. Been too busy the last year getting Windows crammed down my throat at school to look at anything more arcane than Slashdot headlines cover. If it's a kernel patch mod, I could probably do that quite easily. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll probably just take the systems I can allocate (Between 12-30) and try both methods.
  • Then check out the Akira comments, I bet there aren't a lot of potshots at MCSE's over -there-.

    :)

  • Gee, and I was feeling bad about not knowing enough about Linux. Guess it's better sometimes to be decently rounded in more than one OS rather than entrenched in ANY single one.

    Nice to know I can set up a Windows 2000, Linux, -and- Windows 98 network in a few hours. :) Now if only my video card was supported by QNX...

  • If you can't say something nice...

    That's why I shut the hell up. :)

  • And fortunately he knows when to leave the Linux machines the hell alone. And fortunately for our network, so do I. Basic maintenance, I can do. DHCP file configuration, I can do. Kernel patching, I can do, Samba, I can do. Apache I can do. Whenever something I can't do comes up, I don't even try.

    I suppose in some cases the MCSE is worth a bit more than it might seem. I sure know I hate navigating through the maze of crap that is a Microsoft OS. You -need- a certificate to clean up that kind of mess. Linux/unix seems so logical it's just easier.

  • Now I can slap together a Beowulf cluster out of a few dozen P100s sitting around at the technical college where I work without having to watch my GPA hit the floor while I'm so distracted. :) Of course, this assumes I can scrounge up decent amounts of RAM... And that it'll work at all... And...
  • Okay, I've had it. :) I can't even get in the first five posts without winding up non-moderated. :) So let's see, I'll stoop as low as to reply to myself and add more info. Probably get modded down, too. I've got access to a decent Baystack switch, a few 10/100 ether cards, a dozen or so Pentium 100 machines, some CD-ROM drives and other assorted parts to make a cluster with. Now, I have to wonder as a total Beowulf newbie, will 32M of RAM, 1G of HD, and these CPU's actually be worth playing with as something like a web server? Currently this highly under-funded technical college where I work and attend, has a single P100 with 48M and Slackware handling everything web and DHCP related.
  • Usefulness isn't so much a consideration with this, as amusement. Plus, odd as it may seem, the switches we've -got-, thanks to a huge infrastructure updating a year and a half ago. But that money didn't include clients, OR servers. Just network cabling and routing. Getting administration to get us any new desktop hardware would be like pulling teeth with tweezers.
  • Join the club. But don't kill yourself, idjit, go back to school. I did.
  • Easy is a relative term. If you're "23 and an expert in computers"... Okay, forget it. I can't respond to this. It's just too tempting.

    So, mods, this is a troll, right? Okay. Just so we're clear. :)

    8 Posts, 0 Karma. Keepin' the Faith.

  • Serious question:

    Would a Beowulf cluster speed up Seti@home [berkeley.edu]? What would be the best implementation?

    If there's a reason to build a small cluster, I'd say it'd be seti.

    ____________________

  • Even the prez spent over 10 years pissing away doing nothing.

    And besides, there's really nothing wrong with that. Read Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintainence.

    "Nothing is often a good thing to do, and almost always the right thing to say." -- Will Durant

    Also, watch Office Space. 99% of us here who make any sort of money have jobs just like those characters. You're not missing much.

    And for God's sake, listening to Pink Floyd when you're depressed is like washing down the valium with vodka. Throw on some Rush or something that will lift your spirits.

  • a beowulf cluster of MCSE bashers?

    Oh, and that should be high school students, MCSE's, and slashdot "journalists".

  • a story on /. about Beowulf clusters without the unavoidable puns?

    --
  • You'd be better off running separate instances of s@h on each processor (yes, even on one multiprocessor box). The project has already been designed to be distributed on many computers, so there would be no benefit trying to run a single instance in parallel. In addition, there would be some overhead due to clustering anyway.

    --
  • But the average MCSE is not capable of setting up a novell network either.

    Lets compare apples to apples, I'm a linux user so i am skilled at both typeing and clicking the mouse. Therefore i can vim my /etc/*.conf files in linux to speak to my windows cluster that i set up by clicking my mouse.

    At the root of it all (pun intended) is concepts, if you can understand how SMB works based upon domains and workgroups, you can set it up in either environment, it just depends on how easy that environment make it. Linux is less userfriendly (right now) to people who do not understand the underling concepts.

    besides, no one can set up a windows 2000 network in just a few hours, it takes a few hours just to install windows and secure it down to the point where you can configure it for your network.

    Or do you jsut install it and trust Microsoft's defaults, i hope not, that's just being uninformed.
  • Well, I know that (I'm in 10th grade, actually), but I was trying to speak in the context of what was in the story that was posted.
  • I love it. You have have the unique skill of conveying sarcasm through text :-)
  • Dammit--you beat me!

    Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of the posts that ask if you can imagine a Beowulf cluster of something?
  • I know it's probably a bit too much to expect journalistic integrity out of a site like Slashdot

    That's funny.....journalistic integrity and Slashdot.....

  • Hey, I resemble that remark! Sean
  • ...a Beowulf cluster of dummies!

    Nah, I take that back. Nothing's worse than stupid people in large groups sharing their stupidity.

  • I'm 27 and have pissed my life away doing nothing. I want to kill myself.
    There is not a man in the world who has not pissed his life away doing nothing. You and each of us are to the galaxy the equivilant of one atom in one grain of sand among all the beaches of the world. What's the use then? Unlike that one atom, you are literate and can wield a BR tag. You can get drunk, and you can rock. Who fsking cares about anything else? Learn a good multiplayer game. There is always some community, and that is the only reason anyone chooses to remain alive on this Earth. Your pals are just too damn intertaining, and they appreciate you: even if it's just fizpuppy3902 on acrophobia.com

    This has been a public service.
  • I'm a high school student and an MCSE....does that mean I can do it in half the time!?!?! :-) ...here come the patent police!

  • ... A dude who has WRITTEN and PASSED the Microsoft Visual Basic "Desktop" exam needed help understanding the concept of an array.

    I'm not kidding around - not only could he not effectively implement an array in BASIC, but he couldn't understand how it would be useful.

    That's enough to make my skin crawl. Hopefully we can steer him away from a career developing hospital equipment control software.

    Now, before you crack me for MCS* bashing, keep in mind that I am one. I think that's why I drink so much.

  • Finaly someone who understands,
    i have two WinNT 4 Clusters running and its just some stupid failover thing, and even that doesnt work correctly....MS Exchange Server crashes then i have to reboot the A node, then its failes over to the B node, and if i am lucky when the A node is back up i can fail it back....this process takes about about an hour of my time. Clustering WooHoo....

  • Nice sly attack at M$ (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "high school student or MCSE" So.. EVERY MCSE = a high school student. Wow.
  • Ok so it should say:

    "Any retard could do it"

    There. Happy now?

  • Re:QED (Score:2)

    by leiz ( 35205 )
    <I>Since the average Linux user is not capable of setting up a Windows 2000 network in a few hours, this proves that Windows users are smarter than Linux users.</I><BR><BR>

    since the average windows 2000 user is not capable of setting up a windows 2000 network in a few hours either, this proves that Windows users are not smarter than Linux users.


    Zetetic
    Seeking; proceeding by inquiry.

    Elench
    A specious but fallacious argument; a sophism.
  • If you are familiar with some distro already, go ahead and install that. Or you can just install RedHat (6.2 would be better). Minimally, you will have to select the base packages, no need for the compiler or most devel libs (or sources).
    I do recommend installing ncftp though.
    Basically, unselect all and install in GUI mode on one machine (better help in the GUI). Note what packages you are installing, and install them on your webserver. (except the X packages, of course).
    Then go to a Redhat mirror and download your updates: bash, csh (ksh also if you installed it), libc, kernel, apache (bind if you are installing a nameserver also, even if just a caching nameserver). Also download ssh and openssl rpms (and the rpm packages from there -- openssl depends on the rpm-devel rpm.).
    If you need to install php, download those updates as well).
    rpm -U *.rpm in the downloads directory.

    Then just init 1, init 3 and you are done [Just to be safe].
    This should take about one hour, for a reasonably fast download line. (I have done it in 35 minutes, but I have some experience).

    Its not hard to setup a webserver, but making it a secure machine is a lot tougher.

    Also, if you need to setup a ftp server, do *not* use wu-ftpd. I personally use proftpd from CVS, and if youwant to try it out, the OpenBSD ftp port also has been recommended.
    Set up another machine with compilers and libraries on it, so you can compile stuff.

    Here is how you can install stuff that you have to compile:
    download the source on the development machine.
    ./configure;make
    This gives you the necessary binaries in the directory (or sub directories) where the source was compiled. Copy /usr/bin/make to this directory tar and bzip2 the directory (or just gzip). Move this directory over to the webserver, tar -Ixvf (or tar -zxvf). cd $srcdir;cp make /usr/bin;su -c make install;rm -f /usr/bin/make.
    Remove the installation binary directory, and you are done.
  • Usually the people who got MCSE certification and actually know what they're doing (i.e. can administer a multiuser NT or UNIX machine with ease) don't go around bragging their credentials, because they've realized how little the MCSE certification has come to mean, and how much more important the other stuff is.
  • So much for doing calculus homework all day. Reimann, eat your heart out.
  • I never wanted to spend the time learning how to set up a [whatever] manually...

    Now I wouldn't consider myself a master programmer or sysadmin. I can do very basic C/C++ programming and I can get a basic idea of what some code is doing if I study it for a while. I've also set up things like Samba/NFS/ipmasq and some other things. However, I do NOT consider myself capable of installing them. Why? Because I've only installed packages and commented out some lines in config files. Most of the network services in my distro of choice, Slackware, are setup by default. I didn't do anything to get them to work. The creators of the packages did most of the hard work. Even the source I have to compile is infinitely easier with autoconfig (./configure, make, make install occasionally some more work is involved). At most, I follow some of their examples in the config files.

    Now, I don't want to spend the time to learn how to setup a machine from scratch, either. However, I think that, in the end, the struggle will pay off. That reminds me of my physics professor from the last physics class I took. One of the things he said on his syllabus was that the exams would be more focused around the struggle to solve the problem than the algebra. In this case, the struggle around how to set up a cluster and what to think about would be the major learning experience. You can learn how to install Linux and build a computer without a cluster.

    So, this may make the task easier, but I would not recommend it to someone who is interested in learning. Well, it could be nice just for a short project. But if you want to say that you know how to set up a Beowulf cluster, I don't think this sounds like a good idea. Most of the knowledge you'd learn from building a cluster would arise from the things you'd have to struggle with (MPI/PVM coding, for instance).

    It's probably been said before by some famous person, but I'll recall the saying that comes to mind: He who makes no mistakes learns nothing. (If this project makes cluster-building as foolproof as it sounds, it will only be beneficial to those who've already set up a cluster and know what's giong on.)

  • 'Supercomputer on a CD' software is supposed to make it so easy to put a Beowulf cluster together

    I've wanted to build a cluster for a long time. I was given that chance at school & work. School(U of C [ucalgary.ca]) allowed me to do it as a term project that is still ongoing. Work allowed me to use a pile of spare machines that were waiting for new users.

    So, early one Saturday morning, I sit down with the O'Reilley book "Building Linux Clusters" and the CD that came with it. I followed the instructions in the book, and was frustrated beyond belief. The CD contained all the Beowulf software that was required. The downside was that the software had all been thrown over top of Red Hat 6.2. Being the second time I had ever installed Red Hat, I wasn't sure what the magic sequence was to get everything to work.

    I first had problems with unsupported video cards... I tried 3 different cards. Each time, I needed to re-install Red Hat. Why wouldn't it let me install all the drivers for all the cards?

    DHCP? Why? You only need to set the IPs once. Don't force me to do this... oh wait, I don't know Red Hat's weird config script structure... sigh.

    The book mentioned nothing about re-compiling the kernel. But, in order to add support for the network cards, this is what I needed to do. Oh wait, where are the kernel sources?

    This is when I got sick of this "wonderful" Beowulf CD.

    I went to Slackware 7.1.

    Installed it on the master no problem. Enabled frame buffer support for the video card so that it would work on ANY video card. Enabled native support for the network cards I was using.

    Next step, I went to THE beowulf site [beowulf-underground.org], did a search for PVM and PVMPOV. I downloaded all the source code I needed.

    Now, without the help of the book, I was at a bit of a loss. Luckily, there was this site that explained EVERY STEP in about a page and a half. The how-to [wwu.edu] was written by Christopher Johnson and I must say, he did an excellent job. I found only one thing that was lacking, you may also need to set PVM_DPATH=/home/pvm3/lib/pvmd in your profile.

    Now the purpose behind all of this was to get PVMPOV running, well, with a little searching, I was able to find everything I needed here [www.luga.de].

    Conclusions:
    Use a Linux distro you are used to.
    Get a book if you want to know the theory.
    Always remember that some PVM Books [utk.edu] are free.

    I hope this will help someone out there.
    Beware TPB
  • don't kill yourself.

    go see the movie "chocolat" instead. it's pretty good.

    then take a music or acting class or something. many people with strong emotions/feelings do well at things like that.

    it might be fun!!


  • That's not a fair comment, that a "high school student or MCSE could do it". If someone is trained primarily, or exclusively, on one OS, what makes you think it would be easy for them to set up a cluster on a foreign OS? That's like asking Linus Torvalds to set up a Win2K cluster; it's just not fair to the respective persons talents.

    Clustering is complex, and the design decisions behind implementing one are complex, regardless of architecture or OS issues. When you consider how few people in the world even ever have the proper hardware to implement clustering (and don't preach about cheap PC's and Linux as an easy entrance..shared storage in a clustered environment is hard & expensive to do at home), it becomes totally unnecessary to take potshots at where/how they obtained their training.
  • Apparrently after reading the comments this article is really about how to bash MCSE's for Dummies or Trolling for Dummies... ie. all the dummies that have made statements like:

    "I know it's probably a bit too much to expect journalistic integrity out of a site like Slashdot, but can you at least consider the possibility of perhaps posting at least one story that isn't chock-full of anti Microsoft/MCSE bigotry? In case you've forgotten, Slashdot has a huge readership, and you're likely to alienate a large percentage of that readership (and by extension, a large percentage of your banner ad viewership) with statements like the one you make about MCSEs. Has anybody ever explained the meaning of the word "objectivity" to you?

    Sure, it's true that Microsoft includes a handkerchief with MCSE certificates so that graduates can wipe the drool off the corners of their mouths. Sure, MCSEs sometimes put their shoes on the wrong feet. Sure, they sometimes have difficulty remembering their middle names. But does any of that justify the sort of blind prejudice that you display in this article? The fact the the certificate is a useless piece of paper that will be obsolete in six months is no excuse for you to lash out at MCSEs the way that you have. "

     Wow, what a good person it takes to stand up for generalizing people that way. Such people are surely deserving of the Noble Peace Award. It apparently also gives moderators the chance to mod trolls up +3 funny for MCSE dirt.

    Saddly you would think that /. readers would be a little more openminded. Instead of assuming every tech with a cert is an idiot. Sure many are, but many aren't. I've also met plenty of college graduates that are dumber than rocks, yet I don't associate that with all.

    It seems like /. would also have enough journalistic integrity to refrain from making such cheap shots. Wonder how many MCSE's are avid linux users also that read slashdot. I know some- MCSE's in the local lug. Surely they aren't idiots if they use linux... then again how would you know if you have never spoken to them?
  • So now any dummy can slap together a cluster - what's he gonna do with it? Beowulfs aren't designed to run standard services - i.e. they won't make a good web server - they run specialized software, custom coded for each application. What _dummy_ is gonna write such an app?
    Nevertheless, this is an incredibly interesting, and cool, idea....
  • Oh, man. I am in fucking awe. Seriously. I wish I had the mod points I wasted earlier this afternoon; this really needs to be "+5, Funny".

    I am in your debt.

  • If someone is trained primarily, or exclusively, on one OS, what makes you think it would be easy for them to set up a cluster on a foreign OS?

    Umm... well, that's the whole point. This is an announcement of software that would make it EASY to set up a cluster, so that one who is young or one who is trained in a foreign OS can set it up without too much trouble. Where's the bashing of MCSEs that you speak of? Unless they don't know that they are trained in Windows...

    Sheesh, stop trolling.

  • I only wish an open mind would accompany an open source.

    My mantra.

  • You mean "a beowulf cluster of AC's".
  • Those MSCE's can be pretty thick. I'd recommend Beowulf for Dummies [sun.ac.za] but they'd probably just end up at Beowulf for Dummies [pace.edu]

    Steven
  • Heck man,
    I'm in the 10th grade, and our MCSE quit because he was so stupid.
    Now we have some senior that thinks he know what he's doing, but just thinks its cool the fool around on the servers and mess stuff up. I don't know much about winNT, but I know it shouldn't be down more than once a week. I asked him if he had ever thought of using Linux or *BSD on the boxes, and he just stared at me like "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" and asked what that was?
    We had some program for typing in the Typing Lab, called NewDeal, which sucked, I sugested Abiword or StarOffice, or switching to Linux and using KOffice. He just said he was happy with NewDeal, even though the Typing teacher was begging the guy to get something else. So basicaly he was afraid to get out of his range of knowledge.
    Anywho, I have access to a pentiom 120, and some 486's, how hard and how long do you think this would take to setup as a webserver?
  • I'm a MCSE. I also built my own four node Beowulf cluster.

    I only wish an open mind would accompany an open source.

    Dan

  • ... software is supposed to make it so easy to put a Beowulf cluster together a high school student or MCSE can do it in a few hours.
    Since the average Linux user is not capable of setting up a Windows 2000 network in a few hours, this proves that Windows users are smarter than Linux users.

    As if we needed proof.
    --

  • No, you don't beowulf cluster web servers. That may involve load-balanced clusters or failover clusters but not beowulf clusters. Beowulf clustering is for distributable computationally intensive jobs like physical modelling.

  • could you imagine? (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26, 2001 @04:19PM (#478562)
    a beowulf cluster of dummies?

  • I don't know. (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26, 2001 @04:18PM (#478563)
    ...a high school student or MCSE can do it in a few hours.

    You expect too much of MCSEs.

  • *sigh* MCSE bashing (Score:3)

    by cje ( 33931 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @04:35PM (#478564) Homepage
    I know it's probably a bit too much to expect journalistic integrity out of a site like Slashdot, but can you at least consider the possibility of perhaps posting at least one story that isn't chock-full of anti Microsoft/MCSE bigotry? In case you've forgotten, Slashdot has a huge readership, and you're likely to alienate a large percentage of that readership (and by extension, a large percentage of your banner ad viewership) with statements like the one you make about MCSEs. Has anybody ever explained the meaning of the word "objectivity" to you?

    Sure, it's true that Microsoft includes a handkerchief with MCSE certificates so that graduates can wipe the drool off the corners of their mouths. Sure, MCSEs sometimes put their shoes on the wrong feet. Sure, they sometimes have difficulty remembering their middle names. But does any of that justify the sort of blind prejudice that you display in this article? The fact the the certificate is a useless piece of paper that will be obsolete in six months is no excuse for you to lash out at MCSEs the way that you have.

    Shame on you.

  • Project: EFFECT (Score:3)

    by root_dev_X ( 100095 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @04:33PM (#478565) Homepage
    Interesting mention of a highschool student being able to create a beowulf cluster...

    Suffield Academy [suffieldacademy.org] students, myself included (once upon a time, that is), attempted this about two years ago with PROJECT:EFFECT (sadly, the website is now-defunct). The goal of the project was to demonstrate that clustered supercomputing was an extremely viable, which we tried to prove by assembling a cluster of our own - from donated parts!

    ...sadly, there just wasn't any real interest in the project, and it has since been abandoned. ...of course, i'd be more than willing to help another generation of SA students with this - provided, of course, that we were able to generate enough support (**cough, cough**).

    Anyhow, enough of me rolling in the past; just wanted to be an old man for a sec and yell "It's been done before, ya punks!!".

    root_dev_X

    ::it's too bad that old people don't like me, cause they're so tasty::

    bear with me, the sig is old....

  • I am deeply insulted (Score:3)

    by electricmonk ( 169355 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @04:41PM (#478566) Homepage
    'Supercomputer on a CD' software is supposed to make it so easy to put a Beowulf cluster together a high school student or MCSE can do it in a few hours

    I, as a high school student, this comparison leaves me deeply insulted by this jab at our collective intelligence. This is an unfair and cheap shot at us, and as a 10th grader, I demand an apology from the Slashdot crew! Hell, the MCSE at my school was panicking after tech support for the firewall-in-a-box got him to cut off the web cam from outside access. Five minutes and a few remote logins to the firewall and webcam later, I had it all fixed up. Gimme a break.

  • I've worked with a few MCSE's (Score:4)

    by schon ( 31600 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @05:24PM (#478567)
    The smartest one I ever knew was a "Network Engineer" (his official designation from the technical school he graduated from.) Here's a story about him:

    I was a System Administrator for a small (but growing) company - we had approx. 15 computers, most of them running Windows 3.11 (this was a few years ago..)

    He came to me one day, said he was upgrading one of the stations to Windows95, and asked what the IP address for the station in shipping/receiving was.. so I told him. He came back a few minutes later, and said that the IP I gave him was wrong, because Windows said that the IP address was in use.. I was in the middle of something, so I told him I'd come see him in 10 minutes.

    So I'm on my way to see him, I walk through the shipping area, and the computer is there, and someone is using it, so I figure he's figured out the problem he had with the address..

    An hour later, he comes up to me and asks if I'd forgotten about him.. I told him that I saw the station running..

    He says "Yes, but I'm gonna replace it, I have the new machine all set up on the network, but when I put in it's IP address, it doesn't work because it says another machine is using that address."

    To which I reply "Of course it doesn't work, the old station is still running!"

    His reply: "Oh, is that important?"

    MCSE's are generally people who aren't smart enough to get a job with other skills.

  • The real... (Score:4)

    by Fervent ( 178271 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @08:07PM (#478568)
    ...Beowulf for Dummies [amazon.com].

  • Confessions of an MCSE (Score:4)

    by 3-State Bit ( 225583 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @06:55PM (#478569)
    . . . . . . Confessions of an MCSE . . . . . . .
    Once upon a midnight quite particularly dreary
    Since I chanced upon a net node that illuminated clearly
    How to scrounge and hack together former CPU's that yearly
    lose all function and so merely
    waste the space upon your floor,
    Since I chanced upon this web site that had promised so much more,
    for the price of a For Dummy's book and a drive to the all-night store,
    (for we all know that King Amazon ships slowly from off-shore),
    then I swallowed hard, and knowing that what sleep I'd had before
    would have to do for a day or two, as I readied to explore
    this strange book, why then, astonished, on the cover this I saw:
    How too bild a Beowulf clust-or
    I dropped my jaw. What's the meaning of a spelling that so liberally spews
    anti-publishing convention, anti-literally views
    as early as the title-page?! With what shall I excuse
    such an idiotic purchase?....or is it but a rouse
    through the value of its shocking to get you to peruse
    its contents? Who can know? I turned the page.
    A CD-ROM! How helpful! I checked my former rage.
    Reading on, I noticed these directions for the disk:
    "Put it in, and execute drive-letter-setup-exec.
    But do so at your personal and solitary risk."
    That is all.
    Alright, I said, that's clear enough, and further then I read.
    but instead of more instructions, there was the same, in Spanish instead.
    On I flipped, through German, French, and Chinese simplified
    on through Russian, Japanese and Netherlandy Dutch beside,
    on I flipped through all the Slavics, nay, all Indo-European
    languages, then other groups, like Ugro-finnish Hungarean,
    On through japanese, swahili, even African Tschadide
    as escape I vainly tried,
    but there was no end, until, at last, I reached: About the Authors.
    So was this some get-rich scam meant but to fill the writers' coffers?
    No returns on midnight offers.
    Well, I sighed and looked again at that mysterious cd
    I guess it could not hurt just to browse it for to see
    whether any use in it at all there actually can be.
    So I popped it in the drive-door,
    browsed on over, and, well, gee:
    One file was all there was: setup-dot-e-x-e.
    Six hundred megs. I switched from root
    to users more restricted
    I went and clicked the execute
    clutter-clutter, on it shifted!
    my cd-rom, up,up it sped
    my hard-drive whirled, and flashed its red
    my system cluttered, clunked, and crappled,
    as with this "huge" file it grappled
    (what, you really don't suppose,
    that the system slowness these expose,
    isn't natural with the computer speed woes
    that only clustering overthrows?)
    So it thrashed and scuttled, a quarter hour,
    When with an effort it found the power
    to treat this MCSE dummy to an explanation
    of why he could not yet achieve his clustering elation:
    "OS not supported"
    It dutifully reported.
    Now it doesn't take my well-earned MCSE
    To realize that Linux is bullshitting me
    Windows 2000, you see,
    Is our hallmark, it supports damn near every
    worthwhile application:
    And this then was my salvation.
    At 4 AM I concluded
    The merits of clustering had been refuted.

  • Scyld Beowulf has been available since ALS (Score:5)

    by becker ( 190314 ) on Friday January 26, 2001 @05:55PM (#478570)
    The Scyld Beowulf distribution has been available since August. The system was demoed and CDs were widely distributed at the October Atlanta Linux Showcase.

    Our distribution is considerably more sophisticated than what OSCAR is attempting to do. The advances have lead to a simpler system to install and run.

    Our distribution CD may be used as an install disk for the cluster master, or after 20 seconds it automatically boots the machine as a cluster slave and tries to contact a master. Once the master has been installed (about 20 minutes), each slave takes only a few seconds to join the cluster.

    Look for our demos at LinuxWorld Expo next week, and our latest distribution is now available for $2 from LinuxCentral.com. You don't have to wait weeks or months for a less capable OSCAR system.

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