Building a Two-Node Linux Cluster with Heartbeat on Red Hat
A cluster usually refers to a group of computers connected together so that more computer power, e.g., more MIPS (millions instruction per second), can be achieved or higher availability (HA) can be obtained.
Beowulf, Super Computer for the “Poor” Approach
Most super computers in the world are built on the concept of parallel processing–high-speed computer power is achieved by pulling the power from each individual computer. Made by IBM, “Deep Blue”, the super computer that played chess with the world champion Garry Kasprov, was a computer cluster that consisted of several hundreds of RS6000s. In fact, many big time Hollywood movie animation companies, such as Pixar, Industrial Light and Magic, use computer clusters extensively for rendering (a process to translate all the information such as color, movement, physical properties, etc., into a single frame of picture).
In the past, a super computer was an expensive deluxe item that only few universities or research centers could afford. Started at NASA, Beowulf is a project of building clusters with “off-the-shelf” hardware (e.g., Pentium PCs) running Linux at a very low cost.
In the last several years, many universities world-wide have set up Beowulf clusters for the purpose of scientific research or simply for exploration of the frontier of super computer building.
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