Re: Networking

[Robert Speed <nospam [at] Viclabs.co.uk>]

> Hi gang,

Hi Ian,

>
> As a complete Linux novice, I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by all
> the expertise displayed on this list and so it has taken a while for me
> to pluck up courage to ask what, to most of you, will probably seem a
> couple of very simple and stupid questions.

Naaa, we all start somewhere.

> small pension and so am rather cash limited, what do I need to
> do/get/buy(yuk) to link all the machines together - hardware and

You need four network cards - I'm sorry to peddle my wares (no I'm
not), I'm flogging these for a tenner a piece.
You'll also need a hub - you're looking at around 30 notes for a 5
port.
As for Software, Linux and Windows can both talk the SMB protocol,
so you can share everything with ease.
> software - so that I can, at least, print from any machine and exchange
> or access files between machines? Also, is it possible to combine the
> computing power of the various machines (build my own mini Cray!!!! ;0))
Yes, but for beowulf type stuff the apps need to be written to handle
inter-process(or) comms.
So basically, unless someone has developed the app, you're unlikely
to see any major speed increase.
I've had a play with this to create mandlebrots (mathmatical
piccies). But for anything more complex you'd be on your own.
It really depends on what you're trying to achieve, there are some
generic multi-processor libs out there, and the learning curve isn't
'that' bad - I guess you'll have the time if you're retired.

Which reminds me, anyone else interested in playing with multi-processor
StrongARMs ?
I've been approached to test some kit - it hasn't materiallised, but
I did nosey over the prototype which looked quite good.
PM me if anyone is interested.

HTH

Rob S.
Vickers (Laboratories) Ltd.
Grangefield Industrial Estate, Pudsey, Leeds LS28 6QW
Switchboard: +44 (0)113 236 2811 Fax: +44 (0)113 236 2703

All opinions are my own and ! Vickers.
The nice thing about Windows is that it doesn't just crash.
It displays a dialogue box and lets you click OK first.

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