[Beowulf] Gigabit Eithernet Ring

[Greg Lindahl]

On Tue, Nov 23, 2004 at 10:59:11AM +1100, steve_heaton at ozemail.com.au wrote:

> Question: Given that the MPI is performed using a ring
 would there be any advantage in using a "ring" (switchless) network topology over gigabit Ethernet?

Not really. Small gigE switches are so good and so cheap that getting
rid of one isn't worth much hassle.

> I understand that Linux would then be responsible for the routing
> (as opposed to the dedicated hardware in the switch). But in return, I
> should get deterministic performance as opposed to probabilistic

Running with a gigE switch shouldn't cause too much non-deterministic
performance. If you are actually seeing some non-deterministic
performance, you might want to look into what's actually causing it.

-- greg