My short operational definition of a cluster is collection of independent systems (motherboards) that communicate over a private network/interconnect, none of which are dependent on the other for operating, with excetion of the head/master/gateway node.
Under this definition, a multi-core node is not a cluster nor is any design whose operation is dependent upon shared memory between nodes, even though the nodes are separate systems. Of course this is my definition. BTW, I believe the following is also used: N=nodes P=cores/processors per node P>=N = cluster N<P = constellation -- Doug > Hi, > > I am kinda confused with term cluster and now am sure if this where I can > post my question. What exactly can be defined as a cluster ?, We have a 32 > node cluster in our lab. and the number 32 here is referred to 32 separate > machines ( each with its own processor ). What about the new machines > like, > dual core processors or the quad core processors, are those considered > clusters also. For example, should we refer to a quad core processor as a > cluster of 4 processors. Hope someone out there could explain. Thanks > > > !DSPAM:47ec49f7195876865219710! > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > > > !DSPAM:47ec49f7195876865219710! > -- Doug _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
