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SMP Linux Farm Setup Questions

N

NaCly

n00b
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
21
Upon discussion with another engineer at work we've decided to build a Linux 64 bit SMP farm. I thik we will be going with Core2Duo's and OSUguy98's spreadsheet will be a big help. Could anyone answer these questions we have?

Can we forgo HD's and install/boot/run just on USB 2 Flash drives? If so would 2 GB drives be big enough? These motherboards would be F@H dedicated, so we just need a lean Linux dist. Our reasoning is less cables and power useage.

Also, do we need a PSU for each motherboard? Are there any higher wattage PSU's that could hook up to multiple motherboards?

Any other suggestions anyone can give, from past experience perhaps?
 
Why not set it up to boot over the network? and build a main box that has a hdd that acts as the boot server?

then again if all you wanted was a command line linux install you could probably have it fitting under 64 MB
it all depends on how much you wish to run on them
 
I will second trying to net boot off a main server.

As for the power supply question.
A C2D on a fully intergrated MoBo will pull around 140 watts max.
So a good PSU of around 400 watts should power two blades.
What you have to be carefully of is pulling so much power though the ATX wires before you split them rhat they heat you to much.
That tends to be why you cannot hook more that 2 MoBo's on 1 PSU.

Luck ............. :D
 
Booting over network would be the easiest option for you on the Linux. I however, do not know how to do it. The only thing that I used was mage's fold server and that a long shot for me that worked.

I wouldn't go with one power supply for two computers. 1. When you need to shutdown one, the other will shut down also. 2. If the power supply goes, you loose two boxen instead of one. 3. It is gonna be a pain to keep the wires straight on that setup, let alone getting it hooked up correctly. 4. Get smaller, more efficient power supplies if your worried about the power consumption. They will be cheaper most of the time than one huge unit.

Flash drives are good, but will eventually go out. Again, the net boot should save you on that by using just one HD in the server and loading the OS on the RAM. Unhappymage is the guy who should be able to answer the tough Linux questions.
 
Well you all have convinced me that the booting from the server is the way to go. I have no idea how to do that yet, but it cuts down the overall cost as well. I imagine that means a router will be needed too then, to link all of these blades.

Does anyone have any suggestions for building a rack for these, or if there are any to buy?

Also, surely someone has looked into if hardware for a 24/7 setup can be tax deductible or not. We plan on doing this either way, of course.
 
A switch at least will be used. I also believe that the tax thing is brought up and the answer is usually a no. Only donations to Stanford specifically for the project may be tax deductible. Even though your purchasing the hardware for the Stanford project, it is still yours. Like buying a hammer to build a house for the needy. Are you gonna leave the hammer at the house or is it going with you? Someday the loophole will come to light and we all will get nice tax checks.:D
 
Thanks for the links, tacticus.
Those look good, we were thinking of just mounting the motherboards to 1/4 or 1/2 in plywood (using spacers between the two) and then making a frame from 2x4's or something. Obviously things would be a little more exposed, but they will be at my house where there are no kids or other major concerns. The idea of buying an old refridgerator to mount the rack into has crossed my mind, but I think that bridge will be crossed when we get to it. A box fan in front of the rack, with standard HSF's should be enough. Which brings me to another question...

Are there any good torture tests for Linux that someone could point us to? C2D's overclock nicely, but I would need to confirm stability to make sure I don't early end work units.
 
If you install Foldix temporarily, it'll run Prime95. I forget if it starts many instances or not, but you should be able to do that manually.

I'm trying to find time to make a new version of Foldix that'll run the SMP client, do netbooting, and so forth, but I don't have a 64-bit test machine yet.
 
To completely show how lost I am, I will ask...
mage, what exactly is Foldix? Is it a Linux distro?

So...
Currently the plan is to get one blade up and running when I get my taxes back.

**Hardware**
I have decided Core2Duo's would be best, which exact processor I'm not sure. Right now I'm looking to have 512 MB of 667 Crucial RAM, as my T7200 laptop running mage's VMware build has not been using much more than that, and it has 1700 MB allocated to the virtual machine. Is this a mistake, should I go more/faster. Should I make sure to get to sticks per blade to utilize dual channel, how much does that help F@H? Once hardware is finalized and recieved work on the box will begin, paving the way for a 2nd blade and the networking. The box will be designed to hold 4-5 blades, but only 2 will be planned for now.
**Linux**
As suggested earlier, I plan on booting each blade via a server, and the first blade to be built will serve as this server. I first need to decide on a version of Linux to go with. mage, whenever you finish yours I'm sure its the one to run, if I'm up and running first I'm sure we can figure it out.

I would edit this page with current planned parts list later.
Thanks for all the help so far, I had my first 1000 point update today! (Things hit at the same time)

 
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