[Beowulf] about managment

[llwaeva at 21cn.com]

Hi all, 
  I am running 8-node LAM/MPI parallel computing system. I found it's
trouble to maintain the user accounts and software distribution on all
the nodes. For example, whenever I install a new software , I have to
repeat the job 8 times! The most annoying thing is that the
configuration or managment of the user accounts over the network is a
heavy job. Someone suggests that I should utilize NFS and NIS. However,
in my case, it's difficult to have an additional computer as a server.
Would anyone please share your experience in maintaining the beowulf
cluster? 

Thanks in advance.