| Scyld ClusterWare HPC: Installation Guide | ||
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In a Scyld cluster, the master node controls booting, provisioning, and operation of the compute nodes. You do not need to explicitly install Scyld ClusterWare on the compute nodes.
Scyld recommends configuring your compute nodes to boot via PXE and using the auto-activate node options, so that each node can automatically join the cluster as it powers on. Nodes do not need to be added manually, unless your compute nodes are incapable of PXE booting. If your private network interface doesn't support PXE booting, or if for some reason you don't want to use PXE, you may create compute node disks.
This chapter provides detailed instructions and additional information for users who want more control over how compute nodes are configured and added to the cluster.
One of the innovations of Scyld ClusterWare is the ability to boot compute nodes using a variety of boot mechanisms, yet always use a consistent run-time environment for applications, provisioned dynamically from the master node. This is accomplished without changing the administrative procedures or end-user interface.
A second innovation is an architecture that provisions machines as operational compute nodes in as little as one second, even when they have not been previously configured.
The easiest and recommended boot mechanism is PXE, the Preboot eXecution Environment. PXE is a network boot protocol that is nearly ubiquitous on current machines. Older machines may be inexpensively retrofitted by replacing the NIC or adding a boot ROM.
Using direct PXE boot has several advantages over using other boot media. The most significant is that the driver needed to support the specific NIC is included with the hardware. While this driver is not suitable for its run-time use, it eliminates the need to install and update network drivers in two places.
A second advantage is speed; PXE boot is faster than using spinning disks, especially floppy disks. For these reasons, we recommend using PXE boot whenever it is available.
For network hardware that does not support PXE booting, Scyld supports booting from removable media by installing a special PXE environment to the media. See the sections on creating node floppies and creating node CDs later in this chapter.
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