[Beowulf] Re: Beowulf Digest, Vol 18, Issue 19

[stuffnstuff]

Questions that I still have: Will my Netgear router replace the need for a 
10/100/1000base? If not, in what ballpark price range would one of those 
come in? If I was to install Linux on my main computer, would that mean that 
I could no longer use games or Microsoft Office or Acid or Photo editing 
programs that I have aquired? I am sure that they make special ones for 
Linux, but that doesn't mean I want to throw away what I have. Are NIC cards 
like networking cards? I am assuming wired. Where would I buy them? The 
office that I work in is relatively small (about 14 people) and my school 
uses only Macs; where else could I aquire old junkies? Do you have an 
example of a high technology center that hasn't had time to throw away 
computers in its backroom? If I buy the power strip and base station and 
connect N computers to it as well as install Linux on every single node, 
then what? What am I missing? What do I still need to set up? I have heard 
discussions about wanting or not wanting the most powerful computer to be 
the server, but how do I decide which one to use as the master? When I 
render my images trying to take full advantage of my stats, I generally end 
up using 50% of the CPU while consuming 480Mb of Ram leaving about 100Mb 
free; what is my limiting factor (the slowest member of the relay race)? Can 
a new processor be purchased alone and placed into a partially-aged 
computer? My computer recommends buying PC2700 when PC3200 is the same 
price. Would PC3200 not function in my computer? I assume that if the 
computers are old enough that the cluster would still be hopelessly slower 
than my main computer anyways; what should be the minimum stats to even 
consider building a cluster?
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