# An Intel Atom Cluster



## Lukeatluke

You could make 4 from 1.Like usb 4v1.
It should be the same because they don't spend so much A.
Nice thoughts.
Love your idea.


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## Chipp

http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.13/.f

Perhaps one of those would float your boat for the power supplies - it would be more expensive than a single more powerful unit, but they are designed specifically to work in mini-ITX applications (and in all honesty, you could use the 12v molex connectors from a traditional PSU to drive many of these - most of them take DC inpu rather than AC)


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## jts

first off they dont need a 4 pin connector, they come pre bridged to run on the 20 pin only









and it would be cheaper to buy several cheap psu's or scrounge them from old computers, as i dont think you will find a psu with 4 20 pins

i think the 945 needs the fan and large heatsinc

id like to see this done


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## Butterbum

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Chipp*


http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.13/.f

Perhaps one of those would float your boat for the power supplies - it would be more expensive than a single more powerful unit, but they are designed specifically to work in mini-ITX applications (and in all honesty, you could use the 12v molex connectors from a traditional PSU to drive many of these - most of them take DC inpu rather than AC)


Those things are perfect. I could have one board running on a normal PSU, then use the molex from it to run the rest. Except, they are very pricey, im hoping to do this build with Â£150 - Â£200 ($420) max.


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## MXjunk127

Call me stupid, but why buy 4 of those rather than buy one mobo and quad?


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## version2

Quote:



Originally Posted by *MXjunk127*


Call me stupid, but why buy 4 of those rather than buy one mobo and quad?


1. It's cool.
2. It's 8 cores total.
3. It'll be pretty quiet and draw minimal wattage.


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## Dezixn

Quote:



Originally Posted by *version2*


1. It's cool.
2. It's 8 cores total.
3. It'll be pretty quiet and draw minimal wattage.


It's 4 cores total.

But 4 of these vs a single quad... I dunno, I'm thinking the quad would win out in every category just about.


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## Butterbum

Yeah. The quad would win in about every category. But to build a quad core pc (mobo, cpu), would probably end up costing about the same amount as this anyway.

Power, is not really the point. The end result will draw less than 40watts at full load. It will run silent, if not quiet. It will take up a tiny space. Im also sure, that for folding, this server would give the quad a run for its money.


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## Lukeatluke

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Butterbum* 
Yeah. The quad would win in about every category. But to build a quad core pc (mobo, cpu), would probably end up costing about the same amount as this anyway.

Power, is not really the point. The end result will draw less than 40watts at full load. It will run silent, if not quiet. It will take up a tiny space. Im also sure, that for folding, this server would give the quad a run for its money.

Yep, quads are maybe cheap to buy this days but they're hungry at the end of the month when you need to pay the bills.


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## MXjunk127

Ahh ok...Not sure on the folding, but be sure to post a build log...have fun.


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## Lukeatluke

Yep.We want to see it









It will be an amazing built.


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## Tsagadai

I am about to start a very similar mod. I've been working with clusters for a while so I've got a bit of experience setting them up, coding for them and in turn making them do useful things. I'll link to my worklog once I start building it (I'm waiting for the 330 based boards) but I'll paste some of my planning notes now.

Software
- 64bit Linux








- I've written some code for Cobbler(https://fedorahosted.org/cobbler/) and the load balancer to power on and off nodes dependent on server load. When the cluster gets a certain number of requests per minute it powers on or off nodes accordingly.
- I am hoping the next range of Atom processors have the VT extensions.

Hardware
- 2GB ram per node.
- PicoPSUs for each node. All hooked up to a PSU on the "master" node.
- Gigabit ethernet. This was one of the reasons I didn't go with the first range of
- Shared network storage (4 10K drives in RAID5) possibly from the "master" node.
- blade-like cases. I'm going to try for 3 per 3x 5.25 inch bays. And have 6 in a stacker.
- redundant UPS.

As people have noted a Q6600 or similar based system will kick it in terms of performance and probably cost. They are underestimating the greater value from the learning experience and fail-over abilities of a cluster. With a cluster you can achieve near "unkillable" status. One node can boot another, crashes can be dealt with (especially with PXE), the nodes can become the "master", and so on. You don't just want a server, you want a horde that never dies.


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## Butterbum

Whats the size of your horde going to be?


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## Tsagadai

I'll start with 4 then expand as needed.


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## Butterbum

Nice, its probably worth starting a build log.

I'm not sure about doing this build myself, i really dont know what use i would have for the cluster. I could put the odd Â£200 it would cost me to somthing usefull.

I could fold, but the results wouldnt compare to if i put together a cheap Â£100 system, and used an 8800gt to fold.


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## ZTR1760

wait you pay 40 pounds for a game 80$!? Yikes i thought 60 was way overboard.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:



Originally Posted by *ZTR1760*


wait you pay 40 pounds for a game 80$!? Yikes i thought 60 was way overboard.


....wut?


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## Ace of Spades

Where are you finding it for Â£40, im seeing it for more around Â£60 including VAT


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