Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Very cool story at SciAm about supercomputing using clusters. The DIY cluster supercomputers are getting very very powerful and are competing with the ranks of the worlds fastest conventional supercomputers such as Crays, etc.

The story details the history of "clusters" and of DIY supercomputers including a "SouperComputer" at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennesse that is comprised of machines that would have otherwise been discarded (and yes, disparate machines.) Of course the article also delves in Linux and Beowulf clusters. The Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center Beowulf cluseter is covered and the article explains who that Donald Becker guy is! (The name you see splashed across your Linux boot screen when loading various 3COM NIC drivers.) In addition the article also touches on machine types and requirements, processing strategies, the future of clusters and more.

Linux and other OSes are being employed by universities, research labs, companies and individuals to create the supercomputing power that once was only possible with budgets of millions and millions of dollars. Its pretty damn cool, Beowulf in the Basement still needs to happen! (I have been talking about building a cluster just to do it, I have a rack of 486's that are homogenous and just havent had the time.)

Its an interesting and comprehensive story , checkit via the link. Also, check out the current TOP 500 via the second link, there are some clusters on the list!   The "Do It Yourself" Supercomputers: SciAm