The picoCluster

Very cool, you might want a plexi sheild around it (or does it already have one)

what does it do? Just sit there and look pretty? ;)
 
rana said:
are those Mini-ITX boards?

BTW....looks sweet!
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They're 3.5" Embedded format, or ECX as Intel is calling it. They're roughly the size of a 3.5" hard drive and come with CPUs ranging from a 386 up to a Pentium-M.
 
widefault said:
They're 3.5" Embedded format, or ECX as Intel is calling it. They're roughly the size of a 3.5" hard drive and come with CPUs ranging from a 386 up to a Pentium-M.
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wow...thats tiny... :eek:

sorry for asking this but im guessing they are $$$ ....?
 
rana said:
wow...thats tiny... :eek:

sorry for asking this but im guessing they are $$$ ....?
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I get them off eBay for $75-100. New, they cost around $300.

They are industrial boards and are guaranteed to operate up to 60 degrees C (140 degrees F).
 
can you post all the hardware names:

thanks might be interested in making one
 
I'm all over your site...great work btw...but I just can't figure out what a cluster is for...care to lend some info for us stupid people too lazy to google more than twice on a topic without finding anything helpful?
 
An HPC, or high performance cluster, is a math machine. This is not the same as a high availability cluster, which is a different subject entirely.

An HPC harnesses the power of several individual computers, specifically their Floating Point Units, to solve math-intense problems.

It does this by dividing the math problem into pieces and assigning each piece to a different computer. This is called parallel computing.

The cluster's computers (nodes) are tied together through an Ethernet connection.

The programs that make use of a cluster have to be specially "tweaked" to run on a cluster.

There are dozens and dozens of cluster software packages out there that seem to approach the task in different ways. Most of them are Linux-based. Microsoft has its version in final beta.

I hope this helps because there is a lot of confusion out there concerning the subject.
 
Wow...I can't remember the last time I read a post with that much information that went so far over my head I forgot what I asked... :confused:

So it uses multiple systems for a single purpose? So you're trying to find the end of Pi? What do you do with yours specifically?? I thought I just wasn't finding any info off Google but turns out I'm too dumb to inteperet the stuff I found :( But I really am curious about this for some reason...
 
It doesn't do anything ...but work.

I was curious about clustering also and like you, I found the existing info to be confusing at best.

The software is free so I built a small cluster and installed some of it.

I learned a lot by just plain old hands-on struggling.

One of the things I learned was that I have no use for one personally.
 
slipperyskip said:
An HPC, or high performance cluster, is a math machine. This is not the same as a high availability cluster, which is a different subject entirely.

An HPC harnesses the power of several individual computers, specifically their Floating Point Units, to solve math-intense problems.

It does this by dividing the math problem into pieces and assigning each piece to a different computer. This is called parallel computing.

The cluster's computers (nodes) are tied together through an Ethernet connection.

The programs that make use of a cluster have to be specially "tweaked" to run on a cluster.

There are dozens and dozens of cluster software packages out there that seem to approach the task in different ways. Most of them are Linux-based. Microsoft has its version in final beta.

I hope this helps because there is a lot of confusion out there concerning the subject.
Click to expand...

wow I am stupid :eek:
 
I wonder how the cluster performs compared to say a single core athlon folding....

It would be cool to find out, although I guess you wouldnt really need them in a cluster as it would be best to give each their own thread. Still, they are cooler when they are all stuck together like that :)
 
I don't think you could use a cluster for folding because the folding software is not written for it.

Does folding take advantage of dual core CPUs?
 
slipperyskip said:
I don't think you could use a cluster for folding because the folding software is not written for it.

Does folding take advantage of dual core CPUs?
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Stanford is working on a client for clusters.

One client uses one core. If you have a dual core CPU, each client is given a differnt ID number. (1 and 2 usually) If you have a dual dual core mobo, then you can run 4 clients, by giving each client a different ID number. F@H currently supports up to 8 clients on one machine. Check out the Distributed Computing forum here.
 
fenton06 said:
Stanford is working on a client for clusters.
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1 1/2 years ago, when I first started dabbling in clusters, I thought that clusters and folding was such an obvious combo. Math-centric software meets up with math-centric hardware.

I was very surprised to find out that it hadn't been done. If it is taking an institution like Stanford to figure it out then it must not be so simple a concept as I thought.

It would be very interesting to find out what kind of performance boost, if any, a cluster of obsolete machines would have over the same group of machines operating independently.
 
As another owner/user of 3.5" Geode boards, I'd think the price/performance/size ratio just doesn't make the Geode boards a good choice for the math intensive work. As a proof of concept? Hell yeah, can't get much smaller or build it for much cheaper. Four of the used Geode boards is still cheaper than a new 3.5" Embedded/ECX board with a faster CPU.

Now build one with a stack of the Pentium-M boards you used in the DECOmputer. :D
 
widefault said:
Now build one with a stack of the Pentium-M boards you used in the DECOmputer. :D
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:eek: That would take a serious stack of money. Actually, those boards still wouldn't be good enough for a viable cluster. I would need Gigabit Ethernet.

Also, Microsoft has decided to make their clustering OS 64-bit only. That's one big reason I built this cluster was to participate in that beta program. bummer

Do you know of any sub-miniITX 64-bit boards with Gigabit? Someday I'm sure.
 
Closest you can get is the one Commell P4 mini-ITX board, I think. I've seen some full-length PICMG setups for Opteron and P4, but that's not really going to save any size or money. Next step down would be half-length PCI or PISA SBCs, but I've yet to see anything other than Pentium/Celeron-M, PIII/Celeron, and slower used on those.

Probably have to wait for Merom and Conroe before there's 64 bit in the 3.5" form.

Does the Kontron have a mini-PCI slot? I know my commell 3.5" P-M board does, as do some of the newer Geode and VIA 3.5" boards. It wouldn't be as good as CSA or PCI-E Gigabit, but there are gigabit mini-PCI modules that could be used.
 
widefault said:
Does the Kontron have a mini-PCI slot?
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No. Kontron doesn't seem to be into mini-anything with their products. They really like using full-size SDRAM modules instead of SODIMM. They also like full-size ATX power connectors and 40-pin IDE ports instead of 44-pin. All that starts to take up space.

One thing I have noticed is the size difference between the Advantech and Kontron boards. I was going to do a Kontron-based PSU PC project but the board wouldn't fit a standard power supply enclosure. The Advantech boards are ever so slightly smaller than the Kontron. Apparently the 3.5" SBC form factor is a fairly "loose" specification.
 
I've noticed the size differences myself. The Advantech Geode boards are the same size as the ICP Socket 370 board I have, but the Commell is about 1/4" longer due to the weird PCI connector. I think that's one of the reasons Intel is working on making ECX a "standard". One of the others is to sell Pentium/Celeron-Ms, which seem to be made for the embedded market. ECX looks to be a hell of a package; PCI-E, SATA, DualView, and some models with gigabit ethernet. Imagine they'll be priced out of my range, too.

My Commell P-M board uses a single full size DIMM, but other than that it's not reliant on desktop connectors. That full size DIMM bugs me, takes up a lot of real estate and interferes with the cooling I wanted to use. Replace that with SODIMMs and they could probably put a second mini-PCI onboard.
 
I just don't get the VIA nano-ITX. Why create another form factor with almost the exact same real estate as the 3.5" SBC?

Personally I hope the nano-ITX fails. It was born a joke to begin with. VIA and everyone else should just choose a form factor and go with it.

I'm getting tired of working with boards that don't have I/O shields. :)
 
Nano-ITX is a nice idea, but at near $400 it's ~$50 more expensive than something like the Commell LE-370 with a Celeron-M. And I'd guess that simple Celeron would wipe the floor with the NanoITX in everything but Via-specific encryption tests. That also doesn't take into account the custom PSU the NanoITX will need, where most of the rest use either standard ATX or a 5 or 12 volt barrel plug. It's also ~$100 more expensive than similar Via 3.5" boards that are better featured, so I don't know who they're really targetting.

You're damned right on the I/O shields, I'd love to even have a paper pattern to use for my layouts. It's one thing that's been delaying several projects, I just hate trying to make the things fit. At least when I did my drive enclosures I could use the I/O plate from the original cases as a pattern. With these things I've yet to figure out a good way to get a layout.
 
widefault said:
You're damned right on the I/O shields, I'd love to even have a paper pattern to use for my layouts. It's one thing that's been delaying several projects, I just hate trying to make the things fit. At least when I did my drive enclosures I could use the I/O plate from the original cases as a pattern. With these things I've yet to figure out a good way to get a layout.
Click to expand...

I just finished my first custom I/O plate for my current project. It represents about fifteen hours of my life. That includes the time to create my own paper pattern.

I used a drill, a Dremel and finally, six different kinds of small hobby files.

Good thing I love doing this kinda thing. :)

Ignore the reflections around the DB ports.

backend.jpg
 
yay for the exposed power supply, hope you don't get zapped :(
 
Techx said:
yay for the exposed power supply, hope you don't get zapped :(
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Right back at you.

Are you the forum dick? If you are....you're late.

Edit: Nah. Sorry. You're not the dick...you're the drive-by poster.

Has anyone seen the thread crapper or the know-it-all?

How about the guy who likes to criticize other people's creativity even though the most creative thing they ever made was flushed earlier today?

C'mon....Where are the [H]ardTurds?
 
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