Mako,
the Beowulf cluster visible in this picture, consists
of 132 1.4 GHz AMD Athlon dual processor nodes. The
nodes are rack mounted into 7 separate housings, each
containing 18-21 nodes. Each rack of nodes stands 7
feet tall and weighs several hundred pounds.
Visible is the center rack where the two HP ethernet
switches are mounted. These switches act as the hub
of the cluster and allow us to dual channel-bond connections
between a ll the nodes. Also visible is an empty slot.
The rack mounting system allows us to easily service
nodes simply by pulling them out of the rack. |