Beowulf Cluster Computing with Linux (Scientific and Engineering Computation) [Paperback]

Thomas Sterling (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262692740 | ISBN-13: 978-0262692748 | Publication Date: October 1, 2001 | Edition: 1

Beowulf clusters, which exploit mass-market PC hardware and software in conjunction with cost-effective commercial network technology, are becoming the platform for many scientific, engineering, and commercial applications. With growing popularity has come growing complexity. Addressing that complexity, Beowulf Cluster Computing with Linux and Beowulf Cluster Computing with Windows provide system users and administrators with the tools they need to run the most advanced Beowulf clusters. The book is appearing in both Linux and Windows versions in order to reach the entire PC cluster community, which is divided into two distinct camps according to the node operating system. Each book consists of three stand-alone parts. The first provides an introduction to the underlying hardware technology, assembly, and configuration. The second part offers a detailed presentation of the major parallel programming librairies. The third, and largest, part describes software infrastructures and tools for managing cluster resources. This includes some of the most popular of the software packages available for distributed task scheduling, as well as tools for monitoring and administering system resources and user accounts. Approximately 75% of the material in the two books is shared, with the other 25% pertaining to the specific operating system. Most of the chapters include text specific to the operating system. The Linux volume includes a discussion of parallel file systems.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas Sterling is a Professor of Computer Science at Louisiana State University, a Faculty Associate at California Institute of Technology, and a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262692740
• ISBN-13: 978-0262692748
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,271,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. . ., February 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Beowulf Cluster Computing with Linux (Scientific and Engineering Computation) (Paperback)

I seldom review books, but this one is so disappointing that I felt obligated too. The key thing to note about this book is that Thomas Sterling is not the author, but the "Editor" of the book. Sterling assembled a number of short, loosely related articles and tries to pass them off as a comprehensive book on beowulf clusters running on linux. This book offers no real guidance on building a beowulf cluster or working with an existing one. At best, this book only offers a very general overview of cluster computing.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware, March 23, 2002

By 

Roger C. Walkup (Maple, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beowulf Cluster Computing with Linux (Scientific and Engineering Computation) (Paperback)

My supervising professor bought this book for me to use in my senior project and I'm glad it wasn't my purchase. My major complaint is that the code examples in the PVM section are trash. I'm not sure if Al Geist (one of the co-authors of PVM) was rushed or thought that it would be good for students to find and correct errors in the code. Perhaps the best part of the book is Chapter 18 which details the experience at Argonne National Lab of setting up their (massive) cluster, Chiba City. There are many better books out there. Try Parallel Programming by Berry Wilkinson and Michael Allen, Parallel Programming with MPI by Peter Pacheco, or anything by William Gropp.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars useful tips, October 29, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beowulf Cluster Computing with Linux (Scientific and Engineering Computation) (Paperback)

This second edition covers a large range of cluster topics. Firstly, in terms of why you might need a Beowulf. Then, how to assemble the hardware. And how to install linux on the nodes. The book is valuable not least because it encapsulates decades of knowledge about running clusters, not just of the Beowulf type. The chapters' authors hail from places like Argonne and Oak Ridge National Labs, where there have been research groups using many different types of clusters for years.

Aside from linux, the book describes the special purpose parallel language called MPI. It can be accessed from a C, C++ or Fortran program. Note this choice of languages. Typically the cluster is meant for intensive computational use, with UI issues a low priority. So the book focuses on those languages, and not how to hook Java or C# to MPI.

Of course, with each chapter written by a different author, there is somewhat of a discontinuity between chapters. Think of the book as more akin to a conference proceedings writeup.