Justice and Courage
I set up a couple of the nodes for my cluster. It took me a couple of days to set up the node I named “justice” which was my first. Today I did “courage” using what I learned from setting up the first one.
I used ParallelKnoppix to boot, and installed it with the knx2hd command. Then I setup the node on the cluster network in /etc/network/interfaces, and /etc/resolv.conf. I removed kdm, installed gdm, and then with ssh X forwarding, I ran gdmsetup to allow XDMCP connections.
I bought the hardware at an auction. The 8 computers (pentium 2) cost about $50 total. The metal shelving cost under $20. I bought a cheap 16-port hub separately, and have received power and ethernet cables from others. Someone even gave me a mouse and keyboard to use, and I have been using an old monitor someone else was throwing out.
The total cost of my cluster so far is under $100. However, it’s taken a lot more time than I expected. Part of that is to collect the equipment. Most of it is setup and maintanence. It’s interesting, because you learn that just getting hardware for cheap doesn’t mean it ends there. Not only has it taken up a lot of my time (and isn’t over yet), but I’ve had to find room to set up the equipment in my small apartment.
