Is there a way to get multipul computers to act as one?

[G4M3FR34K]

I am wanting to combine my PCs because I ran out of room for video cards in the one, and I am trying to build a computer that will out run all my friends.

[Spawn-Inc]

i've heard of this one guy who put like 100 old computer together to make a 10ghz computer, that was a realy long time ago though. i'm not sure if there was any truth to it or not.

[The Black Pumpkin]

Rocks Cluster Tutorial Part 1 The Install (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7219) by Airbozo :)

[lominono]

yeah I heard something about a high school putting computers together to make a mini-super computer so I'm sure it's possible

[Olen]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cluster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS

Yes. Another thing on the thngs to do list... Both have links. You might want to look up beowolf too.

[nil8]

Yep. You're looking for a cluster. It won't play games, but it will process more data.

[Crazy Buddhist]

Here is a great cluster project (http://www.calvin.edu/~adams/research/microwulf/)

"Microwulf is a personal, portable Beowulf cluster, providing over 26 Gflops of measured performance. In January 2007, its components cost less than $2500. It weighs less than 31 pounds, and its dimensions are just 11" x 12" x 17", making it small enough to fit on one's desktop or in a suitcase.

Update: As of Aug 1, 2007, Microwulf can be built for $1256, improving its price/performance ratio to less than $48/Gflop. See the Cluster Monkey article below for the details."

Here is another nice little cluster mod project (http://www.clustercompute.com/)

Am posting these links to ask if anyone actually got anywhere with their cluster projects? I am taking an interest in doing this now and there are some really great instructions on the net, though lots of different ways to do it of course.

The Microwulf cluster is very cool and very fast, built around 4 AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ machines. Eight cores at nearly 2Ghz each. Oi oi - nice cluster guvnor ;)

CrazyB

[halcyonforever]

the real catch I have with building a cluster is finding something to use it for.

I don't do any heavy number crunching but would it be possible to set it up as a render farm perhaps?

[Crazy Buddhist]

yep. A render farm is perfect if you do lots of heavy video work a well built cluster will speed your rendering up a whole lot.

[halcyonforever]

See I need a house to put the render farm in, the condo isn't quite big enough...

[Crazy Buddhist]

nooooo ... take a look at the first link in my first post ... that machine is wickedly fast and takes less room than a wife:

Microwulf: (http://www.calvin.edu/~adams/research/microwulf/)

http://www.calvin.edu/~adams/research/microwulf/JoelAndMicrowulf.jpg

Matthew

[OvRiDe]

When it comes to compact clusters, I have always liked this one...
http://slipperyskip.com/picobig/004.jpg

4 nodes in roughly a 6" cube.

http://slipperyskip.com/page18.html