Why isn't this possible?

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I think it'd be great to be able to just combine the power of two (or more) computers together.

i.e. All computers (desktops and laptops) should have a "super port" that connects to an external box (similar to a hub). One computer acts as the master and can utilise all the resources of the other computers connected - CPU, memory, drives, ports, etc.. via the external box (the external box suppies power to the other devices and negotiates the resource allocation).

Kap
 
There is what is called "clustering," in which you can take two or more computers and hook tem up together to become "nodes" of a combined computer. In the Linux world, there is Beowulf and OpenMosix. I believe Mac OS X server is capable of doing clustering, but I have never had the personal experience with clustering on Mac OS X. Then again, I haven't actually done it in Linux either. :p But I know both OSes can do it.
 
The problem with this is that applications need to be specifically written to take advantage of this kind of processing, much like an application needs to be specifically written to take advantage of dual-processor systems, otherwise, it uses only one processor. Even if the OS is written to take advantage of dual-processors, that doesn't mean that any specific application can use both processors.

There is a program, called "Pooch," that is in development for symmetric multiprocessing (using more than one computer's resources), but the list of supported applications is limited.

http://www.daugerresearch.com/pooch/
 
nixgeek said:
There is what is called "clustering," in which you can take two or more computers and hook tem up together to become "nodes" of a combined computer. In the Linux world, there is Beowulf and OpenMosix. I believe Mac OS X server is capable of doing clustering, but I have never had the personal experience with clustering on Mac OS X. Then again, I haven't actually done it in Linux either. :p But I know both OSes can do it.
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I've heard of clustering, but as far as I'm aware:

  • It's only a tiny subset of what I'm talking about (i.e. It's mainly about sharing processing load via an ethernet connection) - or am I wrong? Do you get everything else as well?
  • It's not something which is "plug and play" aimed at consumers. I'm basically talking about coming home from work, reconnecting your laptop to the sharing box and you're ready to go. Or am I wrong about this as well? Is it really that easy and cost effective, but most people just don't know about it or bother with it?

Kap
 
Wouldn't a KVM pretty much fit that description? Controlling all machines via one set of input devices?

Come home, plug in PowerBook to KVM (which already has desktop machine plugged in), and then you have access to both machines via one set of inputs...

Or, you can run Apple Remote Desktop, which will let you have one computer that can control all the other computers that are plugged in.

I think what set nixgeek and I off on our "parallel computing" thing was that you mentioned you wanted to utilize the resources of connected computers, including the CPU -- that's parallelized computing. One computer can use the free processor cycles of another to "boost" computing power.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Wouldn't a KVM pretty much fit that description? Controlling all machines via one set of input devices?

Come home, plug in PowerBook to KVM (which already has desktop machine plugged in), and then you have access to both machines via one set of inputs...

Or, you can run Apple Remote Desktop, which will let you have one computer that can control all the other computers that are plugged in.

I think what set nixgeek and I off on our "parallel computing" thing was that you mentioned you wanted to utilize the resources of connected computers, including the CPU -- that's parallelized computing. One computer can use the free processor cycles of another to "boost" computing power.
Click to expand...

Out of curiousity, doesn't clustering not only combine the CPU power amongst nodes, but can't you also use all the other hardware resources from each node for use by the "collective?" In other words, couldn't you use a NIC found on 2 nodes that are in a cluster and perform some sort of load balancing? I can only imagine how awesome a cluster server this would be if it was spanned across a multitude of nodes. And not just NIC load balancing, but other things like memory, or even video...especially with SLI being introduced into video cards (for a clustered gaming rig maybe or even for 3D rendering?). I didn't think it was just relegated to CPU processing.
 
clusters are best fitted to raw data crunching in scientific situations. many labs and/or research centres are using clusters of G3/G4/G5 systems and have been since about 99.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
Wouldn't a KVM pretty much fit that description? Controlling all machines via one set of input devices?

Come home, plug in PowerBook to KVM (which already has desktop machine plugged in), and then you have access to both machines via one set of inputs...

Or, you can run Apple Remote Desktop, which will let you have one computer that can control all the other computers that are plugged in.
Click to expand...
No, I didn't mean just controlling the other computers. The more I think about it, the more I think that you and nixseek are right - everything I'm talking about can be managed via a computing cluster over ethernet.

You get the processing power (and the memory indirectly) via the cluster and access to the drives simply via sharing them over the ethernet connection.

I've just never thought of installing clustering software on my home network before.

Thanks :)

Guess that takes me onto a couple of followup questions:
  • Is it possible to share processing load for video rendering using iMovie or FCP?
  • How much will I notice the difference between a 100 ethernet switch and a 1000 (Gigabit) ethernet switch?

Kap
 
I think your first question (about FCP, in particular) is possible. There was an article on Apple's Pro section for video about some guy who uses multiple G5s together to do his video editing professionally.

I think you'll need Server though, since it's built for XServes and XServe RAIDs.

Maybe SAN is something worth looking into?
 
I have always kinda wondered how they did the clustering and controlled it. that Xgrid is sweet. I read alot of what was on that page and the links. makes me want to go out and get some computers to play with it.
 
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