Is there a Distro that was the clear advantage with D2OL? Something that will make it fly?
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Is there a Distro that was the clear advantage with D2OL? Something that will make it fly?
I would think It'd be a distro that is simple not complicated. I'm trying out Slackware and Knoppix to see which one would be better.
There really aren't any noticable performance differences between Debian, Slackware and Gentoo. I would suggest using the Con Kolivas kernel patchset, if you'd like to eke some extra performance out of a _server_.
im not sure about d2ol but overall the speed difference between slackware and say fedora 3 is very noticable. its not really hard to install, im sure u could do it Rodzilla, it just becomes more complicated to customize settings since theres no gui tools for such things, personally thats the way i like it so it doesnt bother me. i say give it a shot like smokey said we can help ya out if u have trouble.
smokey what distro do u use? slack or somethin else?
I am currently running Slackware 9.1 on three rigs at home, and one NetBSD 2.0 server. I haven't felt the need to upgrade the Slacken Boxen to 10.x, and my laptop is the only one running 2.6.x, but if you're running a server full-time, I would _definately_ go with the 2.6.x-ck patchset.
Re the clustering: before you get too far into clustering, you should know that it is very expensive in both time and money. Clustering tends to bring out the worst in hardware and software and exposes _any_ manufacturing flaws that may be present in either. Hence, it is highly advisable to keep spare hardware around and have the source available for whatever software is running for debugging purposes (that's why most clusters don't run commercial OSes ;)). Also, if you're planning on needing X number of clients, you should increase your cluster size by 10-15%. This will account for all the downtime for hardware swapping that will occur, and it _will_ occur. A cluster is very fruitful and a helluva a lot of fun, but it takes a bit of work to build and maintain.
Why would it cost so much to do?Quote:
Originally Posted by smokey
The cost is entirely in the hardware. As a node dies, you'll need to replace the hardware with new materials. You can expect that in a cluster of 10 nodes, one node will always be down for hardware failure. This is not an unreasonable or uncommon figure.
But I have 10+ PCs running and my hardware never dies... why would running them as a cluster kill the hardware :confused:
Perhaps you're just lucky. ;)
so clustering stresses components, much like folding does basically, im not surprized, to tell u the truth i havent made much progress with it yet im still trying different distros and screwing up linux installs...lol just loaded freebsd on a box, gonna mess with that a little maybe make it the server for the cluster. we shall see.Quote:
Originally Posted by smokey
i was gonna try n use open mosix for clustering anything else out there thats better? (and free) since this is just for fun i dont have any actual need for it lol.
I decided to try out three distro's in the end. Slackware, Gentoo, and Knoppix. I'll see which one is the fastest.
'fastest' meaning... what? And are _you_ doing the tuning? Not to imply that you are not capable of optimizing any particular distribution, but comparing one distro to the next (especially when custom kernels ala Knoppix) are involved, and extrapilating useful, applicable results is, at the least, near impossible. :rolleyes:
Just for the 'heads up' Knoppix is going to be slow-as-heck compared to _any_ hard disk-based distro. Even when you do a HDD install, it's still got all of the ramdrive and rare hardware tweaks that aren't necessary and slow the ship down.
Of course, they are all hard drive installations. I just realized I can't compare speed. Heck, i don't think there will be much of a difference.
If there is any noticable output improvement from the linux/cluster platform, since I am basically a m$ slave, could someone makeup an ISO for me or any other team member that is in the same boat (the m$ one with no drain plug) to use to install the server and the nodes?
Which distro? There would probably be no difference.
NOTE: I have the Slackware 10.1 distro ISO, Gentoo EXPERIMENTAL AMD64 DVD iso, Gentoo STABLE AMD64 CD Iso.
I was reffering to a difference in output going from m$ to linux. And is there a special distro for Xeons? (See, I am the linux n00b)Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowing
What I really wanted to know was if someone could make an ISO that would be an unattended install that also would install D2OL (plug 'n play linux, if you will)?
I dunno if anyone can do that. We'd probably have to ask one of the distro's developers to help us in that.
By specific distro for Xeons, it would only mean the itanium's and 64 bit ones.
Umm... don't confuse the question, shadowing. There is no specific distro for any x86 hardware. They all run the same kernel and utils, so it's really just a matter of tuning the kernel _for_ Xeons, once it's installed. The 'Big Distro Choice' is more one of personal preferance than performance issues.
On the building an ISO issue, it's possible, but not really feasable to do so. I would suggest that you just download one of the major distros default ISO, and we will hold your hand through the installation and setup.
I think a Distro ISO that we could distribute to the team would me major! Can someone make this happen? :D Might be something in it for you ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by smokey
I think the only place you may notice a difference is with a 64bit cpu and a 64bit OS. That might help in an advantage, but I dont own a 64bit CPu yet! I think this is worth looking into.
@Rodzilla: Yeah, it would be so major that it would require it's own production cycle and development team. Creating a distrobution isn't something one guy can just do in a weekend. Hence the reason that Slackware-like situations aren't common by the furthest stretch of the imagination.
@mod: 64bit computing does provide higher numerical accuracy, and may allow for a better crunching drone, I agree. Somebody with Linux experience and a 64bit CPU should give us some numbers. I would, but the most recent 64bit CPU I played with was an Alpha. :P
I didnt know they still make alpha's. I looked into a 64 bit system, and mite be able to get one together by June something (birthday's in may) so I'll try that out then. What 64 bit OSes are out there. I know Windows Xp 64 edition, and one of the suse linux versions. What else is these? Also, since D2OL is a 32 bit app, would it maybe not be able to take advantage of it?
Umm... HP bought DEC and killed the Alpha. I was referring to the amount of time that has passed since I last played the 64bit game. Also, I don't personally run D2OL, so I'm not sure about whether it can take advantage of the numerical advantages of 64bit computing. Once again, this is something for someone with an available CPU to play with. Anything, in theory, can be crosscompiled into a 64bit ELF on a 32bit machine, thus any distro could be ported to 64bit. So far, I'm aware of 64bit versions of SuSE, LFS (obviously) and Gentoo. Slack64 is a work in progress, but has reached the point of being beta tested through ##slackware frequents on IRC. Since Pat has been under the weather, development toward that sort of thing has taken a backseat to security and stability updates to the 10.x series.
And then, there's also Fedora Core that supports 64. Mind you, for Gentoo, it is very complicated and takes a long time to set up 32 bit apps, or installation in the 64 bit environment. :(