- Four Node Linux Commodity Minicluster
by Mitch Williams mlw@sandia.gov
A small Linux cluster for portability. Useful for demonstrations, tutorials and roadshows.
- 4x Advanced Digital Logic Pentium MMX 266Mhz processors
- 10baseT private network
- external PCMCIA for wireless connection to the outside world
- quad KVM switch for local diagnostics
- dimensions: 5.3″x5.3″x13″
- can be built by hand for ~ USD $6700 or integrated by Parvus Corp. for an additional fee
Synopsis
This cluster turns out to be useful as a parallel programming teaching and demonstration tool. Created entirely out of commercial off-the-shelf PC/104 compliant parts, this cluster has all of the features that you would expect in normal-sized rack-mounted clusters, including individual keyboard, video and mouse access to every node. CPU power is a little light in this incarnation, but the CPU core module is upgradable to 700MHz, as of this date (11/20/01).
PC/104 Linux Minicluster Parts List
The following parts may be obtained from Parvus Corporation (800) 483-3152 www.parvus.com
Quantity Part Number Description Unit Price Amount 2 PRV-0752A-02 PC/104 10 Mbit Ethernet Hub 169 338.00 1 PRV-0886A-01 PC/104 Quad CPU Switch 259 259.00 1 PRV-1016X-03 PC/104 Dual PCMCIA Interface, Left Loading 199 199.00 1 N/A 50 Watt Power Supply 140 140.00 1 PRV-0974A-01 PC/104 Power Interface w/ Temperature Sensing 249 249.00 1 PRV-0912A-54 Mounting Plate 60 50.00 6 PRV-0912A-10 SnapGap set 10 60.00 7 PRV-0912A-01 SnapSlot 10 70.00 3 PRV-0912A-02 SnapGuide 10 30.00 1 PRV-0912A-20 SnapMount 10 10.00 1 PRV-0912A-50 End Plate 15 15.00 1 N/A Custom 5X5 Clear Enclosure 425 425.00 The following Parts may be obtained from Advanced Digital Logic, Inc. (858) 490-0597 www.adlogic-pc104.com
Quantity Part Number Description Unit Price Amount 4 801562 PC104plus Pentium 266 MHZ CPU 642 2568.00 4 990725 128 MB SO-DIMM S-DRAM 58 232.00 4 807005 Opt. –P+ Option: PC/104plus short connector 27 108.00 4 807008 Opt. –CF Compact Flash Socket modified for type II 27 108.00 4 802051 Spacerkit-PC/104+ 32 128.00 1 802605 MSM-CK Cable Kit to PC/104 67 67.00 Links to Related Projects
Ron Minnich and and other contributors to the most excellent LinuxBIOS Project were inspired to create the Bento Cluster after our Minicluster demonstration at Supercomputing 2001.
PC/104 Linux Minicluster mini-HowTo
After many inquiries at the SC01 meeting, I have decided to create a short HOWTO so that others can do us one better. Here is a mini-HOWTO giving generalized parts and construction information for our cluster.