[Beowulf] Re: Beowulf Digest, Vol 18, Issue 19

[John Bowden]

On Monday 15 Aug 2005 21:37, stuffnstuff wrote:
> Questions that I still have: Will my Netgear router replace the need for a
> 10/100/1000base?
check what model you have I bet its at least 10/100
> If not, in what ballpark price range would one of those 
> come in? If I was to install Linux on my main computer, would that mean
> that I could no longer use games or Microsoft Office or Acid or Photo
> editing programs that I have aquired?
There is are projects wine, crossover office and more that will run m$ 
programs on Linux. There is also a zillion alternitive programs for Linux. 
Gimp for photo editing / graphics, Openoffice to name just one or two.
> I am sure that they make special ones 
> for Linux, but that doesn't mean I want to throw away what I have. Are NIC
> cards like networking cards? I am assuming wired.
NIC is just another name for network card, buy them where ever you buy your 
other computer stuff.
> Where would I buy them? 
> The office that I work in is relatively small (about 14 people) and my
> school uses only Macs; where else could I aquire old junkies? Do you have
> an example of a high technology center that hasn't had time to throw away
> computers in its backroom? If I buy the power strip and base station and
> connect N computers to it as well as install Linux on every single node,
> then what? What am I missing? What do I still need to set up? I have heard
> discussions about wanting or not wanting the most powerful computer to be
> the server, but how do I decide which one to use as the master? When I
> render my images trying to take full advantage of my stats, I generally end
> up using 50% of the CPU while consuming 480Mb of Ram leaving about 100Mb
> free; what is my limiting factor (the slowest member of the relay race)?
> Can a new processor be purchased alone and placed into a partially-aged
> computer?
check with the motherboard manufacturer. Some times you might need to update 
the bios. If you don't know who made your mother board look round the net for 
a small program called "ctbios". It reports in German (I'm British) but it 
will give you bios date, revision and usually a web page for manufacturer. 
Run it from a D.O.S bootable floppy not windoz
> My computer recommends buying PC2700 when PC3200 is the same 
> price. Would PC3200 not function in my computer?
Again depends on mother board. Check manufacturer 
> I assume that if the 
> computers are old enough that the cluster would still be hopelessly slower
> than my main computer anyways; what should be the minimum stats to even
> consider building a cluster?
Depends what you want it to do. I'm a complete novice to clustering, though I 
have some Linux experience. I want to learn how to do it. I have just 
acquired 16 Sun Microsystems Sparc Station 5's. They are about 10 years old, 
but I will still be able to learn how to get a cluster up and running. Plus I 
have enough to experiment with different setups.
-- 
Guy Fualks - The only man to enter the houses of Parliament with honest 
intentions, (he was going to blow them up).