[Beowulf] Green Cluster?

[Joe Landman]

Greg Lindahl wrote:

> BTW, there are many solutions to remote power management. The most
> common one I've seen deployed is "intelligent" PDUs, although this is
> pretty expensive, $100 per node. Cheaper methods include X10, IPMI,
> and Wake on Lan.

Intelligent switchable PDUs cost ~$50/usable port.  IPMI costs 
~$80/usable port + switch costs and cabling.  Oddly enough, the 
combination of serial port concentrators and switchable PDUs scales 
better for larger clusters than it does smaller.  Dell DRAC costs 
somewhat more ($250/node ?), IBM/Sun/HP all integrate it for you.

We did an analysis of the costs last year, and the crossover point was 
between 24 and 32 nodes in most cases (for our common configurations). 
That said, we like IPMI in general, and even better when it works :( 
Sometimes it does go south, in a hurry (gets into a strange state).  In 
which case, removing power is the only option.



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Joseph Landman, Ph.D
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