Mini-ITX Cluster ?

[Binary_Bandit]

Good Idea for running Rainbow Tables? Lots cheaper than building one box with no where near the total power of the whole. Not to mention it seems to be very power efficient. Now finding software to work on the Cluster OS and your set.

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/cluster/?p

http://www.mini-itx.com/2007/02/26/the-oct...ini-itx-cluster

[metatron]

This has been talked about before, yes clusters are fun but unless you are going to be using old hardware it will still be costly.

[VaKo]

Probably need about £1000 to do a vaguely decent mini-ITX cluster TBH. If you have the cash, do it :-)

[cooper]

I'm actually planning to.

A friend and former co-worker of mine started a new company that places A Small Box at your company which will from that point handle your processes.... I could explain more, but that's not what this is about.

I showed him my Mini-ITX boxes and he was stunned. He was expecting to use those expensive Shuttle boxes. He's now going to use these Mini-ITX boards, and I've asked to tag along on his order. We'll probably get a nice volume discount through this, and might even get him to sign for the VAT. I'm also kinda hoping the Pico-ITX boards will come available soon. The first have been seen in the wild already, and it's much better suited to my neads (computing cluster).

[tanda333]

actually sounds like a great idea, although clusters are traditionally made from old components... it'd be great if you could find all the components used... its not like you need top-o-the line for clusters.

[cooper]

Clusters tend to become particularly fun when you have a lot of machines. Problem with that is that a lot of machines take a lot of electricity and produce a lot of heat, both of which can make it costly to operate your cluster.

Those ITX boxes mitigate this by having very low power requirements. To top it off, they're also really small you can fit more into a limited space. It may cost a little more for the initial purchase, but down the road the savings in operating costs will make it worth while.

[alique89]

do they have to be all the same model of motherboard?

[tanda333]

actually, they dont have to be the same model of mobo, so long as all con run software and network, they'll do. many clusters are peicemeal assemblies of old comps.

also, you may want to look into one of the new A-Open i945GTt-VFA mini-itx mobo. its a bit expensive, but it vcan handle notebook core 2 duo processors. although they will use a bit more power than other mini-ITX boards, the shear power increase should meake up for it in that you use less boards. and besides, its not like core 2 duo are power hogs like the pentiums were. heres a link to the site: http://www.aopen.nl/products/mb/i945GTt-VFA.htm

[cooper]

I think most cluster software figures out which machine is the fastest, and puts the heaviest programs onto there. The predominant reason to want identical machines in your cluster is maintenance. When everything's the same across the cluster there will be no surprises or gotcha's when something needs to get fixed.

This is another thing in which those Mini-ITX boards shine. Even today you can still buy the Eden 500, one of the first Mini-ITX boards on the market.

Good luck finding a P-II board or something when that node in your cluster dies. You'll have to chance it on eBay, or store some spare parts on your own TODAY to fix stuff in the future.

I really love those ITXes... :)

[tanda333]

i have to agre with you on the replacing parts issue.

also, i have say i dont love itx boards that much.

they excel at specific applications, like file servers (due to loe size and power cunsumption) or any hobby box.

but when it comes down to having a fully operational computer, ATX boards, with thier luxurious amount of features and expandability, excel, particularily for gaming.

so, if i was going to buy parts to build a NAS,id buy an ITX, if i wanted to build a gaming rig, it buy an ATX board.

and if i was building a cluster, since i probably would not be using it much, id use old used computers, not brand new ITX boards.

[stingwray]

ITX is a for standard, and the only reason why I see that you would want to go for say mATX or bigger is the need for lots of PCI/PCIe slots. Which a cluster isn't going to need and most people only ever use one and that is for a GFX card.

If you are after power in that size then look at some of the Commell ITX boards which allow you to use Core 2 Duos in them. Obviously they don't have the benefit of lower power usage but they are very small and run extremely quickly.

If you want low power usage then the Via Eden CPUs are what you want, 12w for a 1.5GHz CPU is pretty impressive.

[natural_orange]

I saw a cluter that some guy made.  He took them all and stacked them with some threaded rod running between them, it was actually pretty cool.

Make sure to get ones that have built in CF card readers, so you can use CF instead of hdd's or something that requires a lot of power

[cooper]

*cough*NFS*cough*