[Beowulf] Resources for starting a Beowulf Cluster (NFS Setup?)

[Craig Tierney]

A Lenzo wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I am new to Linux and need help with the setup of my Beowulf Cluster.  Can
> anyone suggest a few good resources?
> 
> Here is a description of my current hurdle: I have 1 master node and 2 slave
> nodes.  For starters, I would like to be able to create a user account on
> the master node and have it appear on the slave nodes.  I've figured out
> that the first step is to copy over several files as follows:
> 
> /etc/group
> /etc/passwd
> /etc/shadow
> 

You could also use network based authentication to remove the need to 
copy.  LDAP and NIS work.  However, you will hear many opinions on the
subject.

> And this lets me now log into any node with a given password, but the home
> directory of that given user does not carry over.
> 

For the home filesystem, you need to use a networkable filesystem so 
that the same image is consistent across all of the nodes.  For /home 
and in small clusters, NFS is traditionally used.  Configure your master
to export /home to your clients.  Have your clients automatically mount
the filesystem as /home.

Craig