'A' in clustering could carry the operating system into corporate arena
Linux is breathing new possibilities into server clustering as new packages try to take large-scale Linux clustering beyond the academic arena.
For instance, CSP last month introduced a hardware and software Linux server cluster aimed at both the scientific world and ISPs (Internet service providers).
FastCluster, which runs Terra Soft Solutions Black Lab Linux distribution, can be configured with as many as 64 IBM PowerPC G3 or G4 processors in a 19-inch cabinet. Each processor runs at 390MHz or 450MHz and has up to 256MB of memory.
IT managers can connect the cabinets through a high-speed Myrinet interconnect from Myricom, to form a 1,000-processor configuration, according to CSP officials in Billerica.
FastCluster supports Message Passing Interface applications, so IT managers can develop parallel applications that run on numerous nodes. It also supports VSIPL (Vector and Signal Processing Library) and ISSPL-ALT (Industry Standard Signal Processing Library).
VSIPL, a collection of 125 functions for support of vector-based signal processing, is designed to ease development of portable software code that can be reused in many applications. ISSPL-ALT includes about 250 functions for signal and image processing and reduces programming time by providing a single calling function for complex mathematical routines.
CSP's software and hardware cluster is well-suited for hosting Internet search engines and Web databases, CSP officials said. Its modular design is targeted for use by space-conscious ISPs.
FastCluster is available now with a 90-day delivery period. A 16-node cluster is priced at US$99,900.
The CSP FastCluster is not the first such device on the block. Linux Networx, a company spun off by Alpha Technologies last month, offers the rack-mounted R-Cluster server chassis and the AltaCluster server chassis. Both boxes come equipped with Intel Pentium III, Advanced Micro Devices Athlon or Alpha Processor Alpha processors as well as various interconnect technologies, including Myrinet.
For companies that want to form clusters of common Intel-based servers, TurboLinux is shipping TurboCluster 4.0, which performs load balancing for clusters running Linux, Solaris or Windows NT.
Linux is the fastest growing operating system platform, according to International Data, Linux server shipments increased 166 percent, to 72,422 units, in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same quarter in 1998, IDC said.
For the most part, however, those systems are not being clustered. For now, large Linux clusters are making the greatest inroads at research institutions.
The National Computational Science Alliance last month delivered a 512-processor Linux supercluster to the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, for scientific computation.
At the university's High Performance Computing Center, IT officials are using IBM Netfinity 4500 servers to build Los Lobos, a 256-node cluster with a Myrinet connection between nodes.
The supercluster includes 512 733MHz Pentium III chips, 1GB of RAM per node and 9GBs of local disk capacity. Scientists will use LosLobos for computation-intensive tasks such as relativity and astrophysics calculations.
The scientific and academic communities long ago embraced Linux as their platform of choice because of its open code base and reasonable cost. Officials at the HPCC foresee clusters leading to still larger computing capacity for Linux in just a few months. "We expect to see multiteraflop machines running Linux in the next 12 to 18 months," said Brian Smith, director of the HPCC.
Linux takes care of business
Now, corporations are taking a closer look at Linux as a clustering option, especially since it does not have the clustering limitations that constrain Windows, which is limited to four-node failover clustering in Windows 2000 Datacenter, due this summer. Because of that, some expect Linux to make its way into the enterprise world more quickly than Windows.
"We get a lot of calls from businesses asking about Linux clustering," said Patricia Kovatch, manager of the High Performance Computing System Group, a unit of the HPCC, in Albuquerque. "I can see it happening, especially since some big [vendors] are getting behind it by offering professional services."
