<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Mar 4, 2006, at 12:00 PM, <A href="mailto:beowulf-request@beowulf.org">beowulf-request@beowulf.org</A> wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; "><FONT face="Lucida Grande" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Lucida Grande">... page about it.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>Is anyone even using Firewire as a network </FONT><FONT face="Lucida Grande" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Lucida Grande">interconnect for real, anywhere?</FONT></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Lucida Grande; min-height: 16px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Lucida Grande" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Lucida Grande">We are considering it as a test. If I do follow through on that I will post </FONT><FONT face="Lucida Grande" size="4" style="font: 13.0px Lucida Grande">some bandwidth and latency results for all to see.</FONT></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV>For small file transfer between nodes, performance may be a wash, with EtherNet 1000baseT being easier to implement and more cost effective in some cases. However, the bulk file transfer rates for very large files via FireWire 400 (1394a) is significantly faster than 1000baseT and FireWire 800 (1394b) is more than 240% faster that GigaBit EtherNet.<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>See: <A href="http://www.linux1394.org">http://www.linux1394.org</A>/ and <A href="http://www.linux1394.org/introduction.php">http://www.linux1394.org/introduction.php</A> and <A href="http://oss.oracle.com/projects/firewire/">http://oss.oracle.com/projects/firewire/</A> </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>For consideration: Alias' Maya CGI graphics rendering & 3D modeling software on multiple FireWire / IEEE 1394 connected systems. (FireWire 1394 is required for some 3D modeler software / hardware scenarios = <A href="http://www.sensable.com/products/Maya/ClayTools_Maya_hardware.asp">http://www.sensable.com/products/Maya/ClayTools_Maya_hardware.asp</A> )<DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Implementation is a piece of cake, hardware wise, on several Apple Macs running either Linux or OSX. Stack 'em up, hook them as peer to peer via FireWire 3-port or 6-port hubs. Best performance is from less than 16 CPUs in a cluster, transparent bridging between multiple clusters is accomplished with added PCI or PCI Extreme port cards. </DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Lucida Grande; ">Ed Karns</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 13px/normal Lucida Grande; ">FireWireStuff.com </DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>