Subject: LINUX CLUSTER

From: Ivan Oleynik <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 10:33:44 -0400 (EDT)

Dear Colleagues,

We are going to acquire a Linux cluster for running MPI type applications
such as molecular dynamics, DFT plane wave and LCAO (such as MSI DMOL). We
prefer to get as "turnkey" system as possible: we do not want to spend
time studying hardware issues related to Beowulf DIY.

I would really appreciate if someone could recommend a good vendor, who
enthusiastically works with academics, understands and adequately responds
to customer needs and requirements, provides good warranty support and,
the most importantly, sells reliable state-of-the-art cluster systems.

I would also like to get some technical advice regarding critical issues
we need to keep in mind during the process of choosing configuration. To
be specific, I am thinking of 24 node cluster with the following node
configuration: dual AMD Athlon 2000+ (2100+) MP processor, 2Gb DDR SDRAM &
40Gb IDE hard drive. Obviously, the most important question is the choice
of interconnect.  I am aware of  3 standard options: Gigabit Ethernet,
Myrinet, and Dolphi Wulfkit. I would appreciate very much if someone could
share an experience regarding which of these 3 choices gives an optimum
balance of performance (especially for heavy numerics) and price. 

Thanks very much,

Ivan Oleynik

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Ivan I. Oleynik                       E-mail : [email-masked]
Department of Physics
University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue                  Tel : (813) 974-8186
Tampa, Florida 33620-5700                Fax : (813) 974-5813
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