Scyld slave node configuration question

[Donald Becker]

On Sat, 18 Nov 2000, Ken wrote:

> Daniel Ridge wrote:
> > There is no easy way to use ISA NICs at this time with our product. Our
> > forecasting department doesn't really show ISA rallying a big comeback
> > either...

Dan failed to mention the huge overhead of using ISA NICs.  Running a 10Mbps
ISA NIC at wire speed takes about 1/3 of the CPU time, independent of the
CPU clock rate.  A $10 10/100 PCI NIC takes far less CPU time.

> Would something like Firewire or USB2 be usable for clustering or is
> there some inherent problem?

They are only good for point-to-point links.  Firewire has some potential,
but there are no Firewire switches.


Donald Becker				becker at scyld.com
Scyld Computing Corporation		http://www.scyld.com
410 Severn Ave. Suite 210		Second Generation Beowulf Clusters
Annapolis MD 21403			410-990-9993