[Beowulf] The Walmart Compute Node?

[Bogdan Costescu]

On Fri, 9 Nov 2007, Vincent Diepeveen wrote:

> Of course it's logical, a loud $1 fan is gonna save more costs than 
> a quiet 'noiseblocker' fan from germany, to just give an example.

No comment on the German-made fans, but I want to point out that the 
environment plays an important role in the functioning of the fan(s). 
The fans in the computers placed in our computer rooms (with A/C and 
dust filters) are as clean as in their first day, even after 3-4 years 
of continuous functioning. By contrast, the fans in the offices are 
quite dirty with dust after 3-6 months and become noisier and prone to 
breaking, independent of their brand and model. The noise comes both 
from dust sticking on their blades altering the air flow and from the 
ball bearing or other similar mechanism which is forced to run 
off-center due to the uneven weight distribution. And Heidelberg is 
not a particularly dusty city...

-- 
Bogdan Costescu

IWR - Interdisziplinaeres Zentrum fuer Wissenschaftliches Rechnen
Universitaet Heidelberg, INF 368, D-69120 Heidelberg, GERMANY
Telephone: +49 6221 54 8869, Telefax: +49 6221 54 8868
E-mail: Bogdan.Costescu at IWR.Uni-Heidelberg.De