Cluster Hardware

Choosing cluster hardware can be difficult without some real application data and experience. Our hardware reviews will try and offer some insights into today's hardware choices.

Last fall, I had an opportunity to test the new quad-core Intel® Xeon® 5400 processor (Harpertown) processor. As the Harpertown was in short supply, I only had two nodes (two sockets on each node for total of 16 cores) with which to run my tests. I'm not picky, however, I like to run HPC tests as this type of data is absent in the mainstream press. In particular, I am most interested in how multi-core and MPI play in the HPC space. There is plenty to discuss, but for some interesting benchmark numbers, read on.

Desktop Supercomputer from SiCortex

There are many people who dream of desktop supercomputes (I know I'm one of them). I had high hopes for Orion Multisystems, but they suffered from some problems. I then had high hopes for Tyan with PSC, but they seems to have faltered. Now it seems that SiCortex is making a run at the desktop supercomputer market.

Read on to learn more about the new system from SiCortex and some observations and opinions I have on it.

Of Pentium D, Ethernet, and those assumption we all make

Recently, I did some benchmarking using Intel Pentium D® processors and gigabit Ethernet. The data are pretty impressive. If I were a non-technical person, I would probably say, Pentium D kicks ass, but you know, I like numbers and have a professional reputation to uphold. Therefore, in a professional sense I can say, Pentium D really kicks ass. To prove my point, this article presents some of the highlights from a recent white paper I prepared for Appro International called Achieving High Performance at Low Cost: The Dual Core Commodity Cluster Advantage. For a more complete description of the tests and results (including benchmark numbers) you probably want to download the white paper.

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