[Beowulf] Compute Node OS on Local Disk vs. Ram Disk

[Lombard, David N]

On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 09:05:16AM -0700, Jon Forrest wrote:
> Bogdan Costescu wrote:
> 
> > I use for a long time a different approach - the node "image" is copied
> > via rsync at boot time; the long waiting time for installing the RPMs
> > and running whatever configuration scripts happens only once when the
> > node "image" is prepared, the nodes only copy it - and it's a full copy
> > only the first time they boot with a new disk, afterwards it's the rsync
> > magic which makes it finish within seconds while making it look like a
> > new disk :-)
> 
> This is a good idea. Can you write more about this?

That's not too far from the SystemImager approach, which has been installing
clusters for a Very Long Time(TM).  They provide tools to manage the capture
(or create from scratch), an rsync-only update along with a kernel/initrd to
do it all from scratch.

-- 
David N. Lombard, Intel, Irvine, CA
I do not speak for Intel Corporation; all comments are strictly my own.