[Beowulf] switch selection

[Joe Landman]

Gerry Creager wrote:
> Joe Landman wrote:
>> Gerry Creager wrote:
>>> I recall a couple of recent arguments, so I'm wondering if someone 
>>> could summarize the discussion on gigabit switches for HPC/clusters.
>>>
>>> 1.  If memory serves, NetGear wasn't a great choice?
>>> 2.  HP Procurve got some good reviews.
>>>
>>> I've been asked for an opinion by some folks building a small, 
>>> dedicated cluster.  I'd told them of my misgivings on NetGear, and 
>>> now I've gotta give a recommendation.
>>
>> How large and what traffic over it?
> 
> <= 24 nodes, with gigabit as the primary interconnect.  MPI for data 
> assimilation on custom weather codes.

It would be hard to beat the Procurve 2900-24G or 2824 units for 
performance.  We have had customers slot them in after other 
(disastrous) switch choices.  Often times we hear "faster", "NFS doesn't 
die", "PXE/bootp finally works", and other nice things like that.

They will cost you more, but we haven't seen an unhappy cluster customer 
using them yet.

Joe




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Joseph Landman, Ph.D
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