Some beginner questions

[Sandy Harris]

I'm contemplating a small Beowulf. I'd like to use Scyld with one master and
a small (4 to 8) set of diskless slaves. Some questions occur to me that don't
seem to be in the FAQs.

The standard network method for small clusters seems to involve a switch. For
small clusters, you could just put a few 4-port cards in the master and run a
cross-over cable to each slave. However, would this waste a lot of CPU on the
master?

Micro-ATX or Flex-ATX boards are quite small (under 10" or 25 cm aquare). 
Examples:
http://www.tyan.com/products/html/tomcati810ef_c.html
http://www.asus.com/products/Motherboard/Pentiumpro/Cuep2-m/index.html

They use small "slim PC" cases, roughly 375 x 325 x 100 mm or 15 x 13 x 3.75"
http://www.aopen.com/products/housing/h300a.htm

These look attractive for a Beowulf, perhaps with some extra fans. However,
does anyone know of one of these boards that supports  booting from net?