- What is a Compute Cluster?
- Different Types of Compute Jobs
- Building a Compute Cluster
- Computing Resources Needed
- Price Per CPU
- Optimal Solution Economics
- Beowulf Solution
- Beowulf Cluster on SPARC Hardware
- SUN Supported Beowulf Cluster
- How To Build Your Compute Cluster
- Advantages of a Sun Based Cluster
- Grid Computing
- Conclusion
- Compute Cluster Software
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Price Per CPU
The price per CPU is generally greater in a large computer than in a small one. The reason is that a single CPU machine is much simpler to design, cheaper to build, and is often produced in a large series of machines. However, if the application is multithreaded and you want to run it in parallel, you must run it on a parallel machine—symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) or Cache-Coherent, Non-Uniform Memory Architecture (CC-NUMA). Also, a larger machine can have more internal memory, which the application might require. A large SMP is easier to use and administer than a cluster of smaller machines. If you use the same chip in a 750 MHz Sun Blade_ 1000 workstation and a 750 MHz Sun FireTM 6800 server the price per CPU in the Sun Fire 6800 server is higher because of its high-speed system interconnect and midframe reliability, availability, and serviceability features. FIGURE 2 shows a plot of price per CPU versus machine size.
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FIGURE 2 Cost of CPU—Price Per CPU Versus Machine Size