[Beowulf] Re: Setting up a new Beowulf cluster

[Tim Mattox]

One important consideration that I didn't see mentioned when skimming this
thread on the beowulf  list, is what software to use to manage the cluster.
You will save yourself a LOT of time using good cluster management software.

I recommend PERCEUS (http://www.perceus.org/) but there are others you
can try, such as OSCAR (http://oscar.openclustergroup.org/).

On Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 10:00 AM, Berkley Starks <bjtstarks at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you all for the help and support here.  With what has been presented
> here, and sound considerations, we have decided on a home for our Beowulf
> cluster.  The room is already sound proofed, and well air conditioned.  As
> for people worrying about noise, it will be housed with out vacuum chamber,
> so those going into the room and doing stuff are already used to a little
> bit of noise.
>
> The floor is rated to hold more than enough computers and the AC in there is
> phenomenal.  I just finished meeting with campus physical facilities the
> other day and have got the budget requestioned and approved to allow us
> independent AC control of the room.
>
> Right now we are seeing how much money can be appropriated for the actual
> construction of the cluster.
>
> Thank you all so much for your input and support so far.  It has helped a
> lot.
>
> Berkley Starks
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 14, 2008 9:39 AM, David Mathog <mathog at caltech.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Jim Lux <James.P.Lux at jpl.nasa.gov> wrote:
> >
> > > >>quiet down a rack because to first order sound insulation == heat
> > > >>insulation. \
> > >
> > > Actually, no.. good acoustic isolation is not good thermal
> > > isolation.  Sure, things like fiberglass batts provide thermal
> > > insulation and also (slightly) attenuate high frequencies.
> >
> > I guess I should have used => or some other "implies".  Sound insulators
> > tend to be good heat insulators, heat insulators are generally not good
> > sound insulators.
> >
> > I spent way too long trying to quiet down a rack when it had to live in
> > a classroom.  Mass loaded vinyl on all 4 sides worked fairly well
> > to stop the noise coming out that way, but then it just turned into a
> > big speaker enclosure and directed nearly as much sound out the fan
> > holes, where it bounced off the ceiling and floor.  And the rack exhaust
> > fans (2 very high capacity 120mm fans on the top) were not able to keep
> > it cool when it was fully sound insulated.  The rated capacity
> > of those two fans was more than the sum of all the little ones in the
> > nodes, but the air flow was too restricted, I think mostly by the narrow
> > space between the node's front panels and the front insulator panel.
> > Thankfully it finally moved to a machine room and the noise problem went
> > away.
> >
> > Anyway, it is a much easier to sound insulate a room than it is a single
> > noisy rack.
> >
> >
> > David Mathog
> > mathog at caltech.edu
> > Manager, Sequence Analysis Facility, Biology Division, Caltech
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
Tim Mattox, Ph.D. - http://homepage.mac.com/tmattox/
 tmattox at gmail.com || timattox at open-mpi.org
    I'm a bright... http://www.the-brights.net/