Baslinux mailing list

[James Miller <jamtat AT mailsnare.net>]

On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 qwms-avib AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:
>
> > If so, then BL2 + Openmosix = a way of utilizing older
> > (maybe throwaway) systems to get more up-to-date computing
> > power, right?
>
> Yes, the effect would probably be most noticeable on a network
> of old PCs (because the slower a system is, the more worthwhile
> it becomes to spend the time migrating the process).  Of course,
> a slow network (10 mbps) increases the migration time and makes
> migration less likely.  Fortunately openMosix does all these
> calculations automatically and quickly decides whether migration
> is worthwhile.
>
It sounds like maybe older PC's are inherently less desireable for
Openmosix then - most of them having only ISA slots and thus capable of
accomodating only 10 mbps NIC's.  I think I see now why, on the K12LTSP
list, alot of discussion about Gigabit ethernet goes on in relation to
Openmosix.

> > A person could salvage say, 3 or 4 older machines and, with a
> > bit of networking setup, have the equivalent of a much better
> > machine than any of the individual machines on the network.
>
> Yes, this would be most noticeable when doing lengthy processes,
> like a kernel compile or SETI@home.  However, with two or more old
> PCs, it would still be worthwhile to use the fastest one to run the
> programs and a different one to run the Xserver.  Combined with a
> well-tuned openMosix, that would give you the best performance.
>
This sounds like the system you outlined on the old "Linux for Old
PCs" page (btw: is that page[s] still available somewhere?  I'm
willing to host it, if you still have the files) - the one that describes
running Xwindows on a system that sends its display to another computer.
Right?  What would be the advantage - if any - of using Openmosix for this
scheme rather than the method you described on that page?  And does
Openmosix allow some sort of user stipulation for which processes get sent
out to other machines?

> It works even better if you take one up-to-date computer and
> network it to a dozen old PCs (which are run as Xterminals).
> I see that the LTSP is now including openMosix as an option.
>
Even though those old PC's might have only 10 mbps NIC's?  And how does
having one up-to-date PC confer an advantage (apart from the superior
processing power it could add to the pool) to such a setup?  The K12LTSP
project (one that aims at increasing the use of LTSP in educational
settings - mostly primary and secondary) sees a fair amount of discussion
on Openmosix.  I think there's a special Knoppix edition that incorporates
Openmosix as well.

James