Beowulf vs. MOSIX

[Mark Lucas]

David,
Our algorithms are very similar to ray tracing and are very CPU intensive.
For visualization the 3D pipeline provided by the SGIs is great once you
have the elevation surface and the texture map all lined up.  Our work
consists of building the texture map correctly (radiometrically and
geometrically) and the 3D pipeline doesn't help us.  Fortunately, the
problem is very parallel in nature and is well suited for a cluster
implementation.
Mark

>Mark,
>
>Are you sacrificing the visualization capabilties for faster backend
>computing?  Obviously, the cpu power is your primary consideration.  Are
>you keeping the SGI's as simply display stations?  Or is 3D/4D even a
>consideration in your imagery?
>
>David
>
>Mark Lucas wrote:
>>
>> Peter,
>>
>> That is our opinion at AGIS/ImageLinks.  We process satellite and aerial
>> imagery which stresses CPU, bandwidth and storage.  We have just concluded
>> porting all of our code to run on LInux and are in the process of removing
>> all of the SGIs and Suns replacing them with dual CPU Pentium boxes.  More
>> horsepower and substantially lower cost.  We have been looking at MPI and
>> PVM in our code thinking of BeoWulf clusters, but after attending LinuxExpo
>> we have decided that Mosix is a better fit - especially given our workflow.
>> We were impressed by how quickly the clusters at the show installed it and
>> tried it out.  Wiring PVM and MPI into the code is definitely desired so
>> that there is more to spread around.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> >It seems to me that for business applications, MOSIX might be a better way
>> >to go as a quick and easy way to take advantage of clusters.  With its load
>> >balancing and transparent process migration, even existing serial
>> >applications should be able to take advantage of the power of clusters.
>> >With Beowulf, on the other hand, one must parallelize the code in order to
>> >see any improvement in performance.
>> >
>> >Is this assessment accurate?  Any comments?
>> >
>> >---
>> >Peter Szwedyk
>> >Goldman, Sachs & Co.
>> >Securities Lending Technology
>> >One New York Plaza, 48th Floor
>> >New York, NY  10004
>> >Phone: 212-357-8105 | Fax: 212-428-1405
>>
>> ******************
>> Mark R. Lucas
>> Chief Technical Officer
>>
>> AGIS/ ImageLinks, Inc.
>> 4450 West Eau Gallie Blvd.
>> Suite 164, Perimeter Center
>> Melbourne, Florida 32934
>>
>> (407) 253-0011 (work)
>> (407) 253-5559 (fax)
>> (407) 725-6842 (home)
>> (407) 693-6842 (cellular)
>>
>> email:   mlucas@imagelinks.com
>> http://www.imagelinks.com
>> *******************

******************
Mark R. Lucas
Chief Technical Officer

ImageLinks, Inc.
4450 West Eau Gallie Blvd.
Suite 164, Perimeter Center
Melbourne, Florida 32934

(407) 253-0011 (work)
(407) 253-5559 (fax)
(407) 725-6842 (home)
(407) 693-6842 (cellular)

email:   mlucas@imagelinks.com
http://www.imagelinks.com
*******************