Facilities Requirements for Beowulf Clusters?

[Don Morton]

Howdy, for years I've been running a 9-node cluster of 100MHz Pentiums,
and I've gotten away with stuffing them into a single room with no
additional power or air conditioning considerations.

I'm in a position now where I'll be getting 16 to 32 nodes, high-end,
along with a high-end server, and I'm kind of worrying that a typical
room's power system and, particularly, the air conditioning, might
not be adequate.

I realise I can calculate the power requirements and compare them
to what's available in the room, but A/C is a little tougher.  Have
any of you tried jamming 16 to 32 nodes in a small room that's typically 
kept at around 22C (72F) with any success?  I hear about a number of
medium-sized systems like the one I'm getting ready to acquire, 
and I wonder if people are really going all out to spend extra
bucks on the facilities?

Thanks,

Don Morton
-- 
   Don Morton                     http://www.cs.umt.edu/u/morton/
   Department of Computer Science       The University of Montana
   Missoula, MT 59812 | Voice (406) 243-4975 | Fax (406) 243-5139