dual computers PCs

Andrew911tt · March 24th, 2005, 7:54 AM

I was wondering if there was a way that I could connect two computers together so that I could combine there processing.

I heard that Macs do it easily but is there a way to do it with PCs

bigfoot1942 · March 24th, 2005, 9:58 AM

get Linux

it doesnt work with Windows unless you install Windows Server 2000/2003 Advanced Server for 2 nodes or Datacenter for 4 nodes... and theyre failover clustered so they dont share CPU...

under Linux its easier: see http://www.mosix.org/

bigfoot1942 · March 24th, 2005, 10:00 AM

...or you can wait a while:

http://news.com.com/Windows+for+supe...l?tag=nefd.top

Kip_6666 · March 24th, 2005, 10:32 AM

Most people don't really need it though. Esspecially because there isn't that much software thats built for the purpose.

Video encodeing comes to mind, thats a good application for it.

TechZ · March 24th, 2005, 11:11 AM

Clustering of computers. Why do you want to do it anyway?

ANd unless you really need to do, its just a bother.

jeffy777 · March 24th, 2005, 5:07 PM

yeah, two PCs are better than one images/smilies/mrgreen.gif

Well, unless they're two really crappy ones....

Andrew911tt · March 24th, 2005, 6:48 PM

two crappy computers are better then one crappy computer

jeffy777 · March 24th, 2005, 6:59 PM

well, if you combined the power of the 2 then you would have one less crappy computer, in theory anyway. Never tried it so can't say how well it would work.

Overdrv · December 6th, 2006, 9:53 PM

EASY to do... Sell both computers buy one really fast one.

Or try and build a Beowulf cluster.

hokiethang · December 6th, 2006, 10:48 PM

holy bump batman... was it really necessary to drag up a ~21 month old thread?

Andrew911tt · December 8th, 2006, 6:25 PM

i know that was weird seeing that i had started this thread

jeffy777 · December 8th, 2006, 6:47 PM

I forgot I ever posted here, haha.

awdrifter · December 9th, 2006, 10:41 AM

Just curious, will Windows Vista make this easier to do now or is it still really hard to setup under Windows?

AutoMX · December 23rd, 2006, 10:13 AM

progs need to be written specifically for this task, it's generally called a "farm" (3D rendering progs --> "render farm") and it works in few cases. you can't just take 2x 2ghz comps to make 4ghz. in terms of gaming, photoshop, video playback, internet, etc, that idea would be useless. it's only proven to work in tasks that can be divided or "bucketed" like 3D rendering, video work (compositing, encoding, etc), heavy math computation, CFD, and so on.

CyberMonkey · December 23rd, 2006, 3:12 PM

Get yourself a dualcore. Or a quadcore.

AutoMX · December 23rd, 2006, 7:02 PM

^--- even that only works in some progs. windows will sometimes give one core to one prog and the other to the second, depends on how its all coded

sandor_ · December 29th, 2006, 6:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AutoMX

progs need to be written specifically for this task

not quite true. programs simply need to be written as multi-threaded applications. the OS (or third party manager) then shuffles the threads to other empty CPUs on the LAN.

related, applications also have to be multi-threaded to take advantage of multi-core CPUs or multiple CPU systems. its like having 10 people with 10 buckets vs. having a single person with a single bucket trying to move a tank of water.

the benefits usually only show themselves with small data chunks that take up lots of processor time - otherwise you spend too much time throwing the data across the LAN to make it effective.

March 24th, 2005, 7:54 AM	#1
Andrew911tt Joined: Feb 2nd, 2004 Last Online: November 17th, 2009 Location: San Diego Age: 24 Posts: 423 Car: 2008 MazdaSpeed3 GT Rep Power: 27	dual computers PCs I was wondering if there was a way that I could connect two computers together so that I could combine there processing. I heard that Macs do it easily but is there a way to do it with PCs __________________ Nothing better than a Porsche except a better one!! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

March 24th, 2005, 9:58 AM	#2
bigfoot1942 Joined: Sep 15th, 2004 Last Online: October 17th, 2007 Location: Holland Posts: 864 Rep Power: 0	get Linux it doesnt work with Windows unless you install Windows Server 2000/2003 Advanced Server for 2 nodes or Datacenter for 4 nodes... and theyre failover clustered so they dont share CPU... under Linux its easier: see http://www.mosix.org/ __________________ thnx viper... youre being very helpful

March 24th, 2005, 10:00 AM	#3
bigfoot1942 Joined: Sep 15th, 2004 Last Online: October 17th, 2007 Location: Holland Posts: 864 Rep Power: 0	...or you can wait a while: http://news.com.com/Windows+for+supe...l?tag=nefd.top __________________ thnx viper... youre being very helpful

March 24th, 2005, 10:32 AM	#4
Kip_6666 I Bought This Title :o Joined: May 17th, 2004 Last Online: November 20th, 2009 Location: The Netherlands Age: 23 Posts: 3,041 Car: Saab 9-3 2.0t @ stage 3 now & Saab Viggen Rep Power: 53	Most people don't really need it though. Esspecially because there isn't that much software thats built for the purpose. Video encodeing comes to mind, thats a good application for it. __________________ http://www.internet-memes.com Now with 50% less database error My Flickr

March 24th, 2005, 11:11 AM	#5
TechZ Captain Internet Joined: Dec 19th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Bahrain Age: 25 Posts: 2,921 Car: Audi TT '08 Rep Power: 200	Clustering of computers. Why do you want to do it anyway? ANd unless you really need to do, its just a bother. __________________ techzonline.net

March 24th, 2005, 5:07 PM	#6
jeffy777 Joined: Feb 8th, 2005 Last Online: 1:13 AM Location: US Age: 28 Posts: 6,295 Car: '04 Toyota Sienna, crippled people like vans.... Rep Power: 91	yeah, two PCs are better than one Well, unless they're two really crappy ones.... __________________ A man named Jeffy once said, "If laziness is craziness, then I've lost my marbles...and I don't feel like trying to find them."

March 24th, 2005, 6:48 PM	#7
Andrew911tt Joined: Feb 2nd, 2004 Last Online: November 17th, 2009 Location: San Diego Age: 24 Posts: 423 Car: 2008 MazdaSpeed3 GT Rep Power: 27	two crappy computers are better then one crappy computer __________________ Nothing better than a Porsche except a better one!! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

March 24th, 2005, 6:59 PM	#8
jeffy777 Joined: Feb 8th, 2005 Last Online: 1:13 AM Location: US Age: 28 Posts: 6,295 Car: '04 Toyota Sienna, crippled people like vans.... Rep Power: 91	well, if you combined the power of the 2 then you would have one less crappy computer, in theory anyway. Never tried it so can't say how well it would work. __________________ A man named Jeffy once said, "If laziness is craziness, then I've lost my marbles...and I don't feel like trying to find them."

December 6th, 2006, 9:53 PM	#9
Overdrv Joined: Dec 4th, 2006 Last Online: March 16th, 2007 Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada Posts: 63 Car: 2004 Mustang Convertable Rep Power: 0	EASY to do... Sell both computers buy one really fast one. Or try and build a Beowulf cluster.

December 6th, 2006, 10:48 PM	#10
hokiethang Global Moderator Joined: Nov 30th, 2004 Last Online: 1:35 AM Location: Northern Virginia, USA Age: 26 Posts: 2,321 Car: 2007 Durango Rep Power: 28	holy bump batman... was it really necessary to drag up a ~21 month old thread? __________________

December 8th, 2006, 6:25 PM	#11
Andrew911tt Joined: Feb 2nd, 2004 Last Online: November 17th, 2009 Location: San Diego Age: 24 Posts: 423 Car: 2008 MazdaSpeed3 GT Rep Power: 27	i know that was weird seeing that i had started this thread __________________ Nothing better than a Porsche except a better one!! 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

December 8th, 2006, 6:47 PM	#12
jeffy777 Joined: Feb 8th, 2005 Last Online: 1:13 AM Location: US Age: 28 Posts: 6,295 Car: '04 Toyota Sienna, crippled people like vans.... Rep Power: 91	I forgot I ever posted here, haha. __________________ A man named Jeffy once said, "If laziness is craziness, then I've lost my marbles...and I don't feel like trying to find them."

December 9th, 2006, 10:41 AM	#13
awdrifter Joined: Aug 29th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Posts: 1,956 Rep Power: 47	Just curious, will Windows Vista make this easier to do now or is it still really hard to setup under Windows? __________________ TP

December 23rd, 2006, 10:13 AM	#14
AutoMX Joined: Oct 3rd, 2004 Last Online: September 12th, 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 800 Rep Power: 0	progs need to be written specifically for this task, it's generally called a "farm" (3D rendering progs --> "render farm") and it works in few cases. you can't just take 2x 2ghz comps to make 4ghz. in terms of gaming, photoshop, video playback, internet, etc, that idea would be useless. it's only proven to work in tasks that can be divided or "bucketed" like 3D rendering, video work (compositing, encoding, etc), heavy math computation, CFD, and so on. __________________

December 23rd, 2006, 3:12 PM	#15
CyberMonkey Joined: Jan 22nd, 2005 Last Online: November 16th, 2009 Location: Belgium Age: 23 Posts: 2,023 Rep Power: 38	Get yourself a dualcore. Or a quadcore.

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December 23rd, 2006, 7:02 PM	#16
AutoMX Joined: Oct 3rd, 2004 Last Online: September 12th, 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 800 Rep Power: 0	^--- even that only works in some progs. windows will sometimes give one core to one prog and the other to the second, depends on how its all coded __________________