Chapter 4. Linux for Clusters

This chapter reviews some of the issues involved in setting up a Linux system for use in a cluster. While several key services are described in detail, for the most part the focus is more on the issues and rationales than on specifics. Even if you are an old pro at Linux system administration, you may still want to skim this chapter for a quick overview of the issues as they relate to clusters, particularly the section on configuring services. If you are new to Linux system administration, this chapter will probably seem very terse. What's presented here is the bare minimum a novice system administrator will need to get started. The Appendix A lists additional sources.

This chapter covers material you'll need when setting up the head node and a typical cluster node. Depending on the approach you take, much of this may be done for you. If you are building your cluster from the ground up, you'll need to install the head node, configure the individual services on it, and build at least one compute node. Once you have determined how a compute node should be configured, you can turn to Chapter 8 for a discussion of how to duplicate systems in an efficient manner. It is much simpler with kits like OSCAR and Rocks.

With OSCAR, you'll need to install Linux on the head system, but OSCAR will configure the services for you. It will also build the client, i.e., generate a system image and install it on the compute nodes. OSCAR will configure and install most of the packages you'll need. The key to using OSCAR is to use a version of Linux that is known to be compatible with OSCAR. OSCAR is described in Chapter 6. With Rocks, described in Chapter 7, everything will be done for you. Red Hat Linux comes as part of the Rocks distribution.

This chapter begins with a discussion of selecting a Linux distribution. A general discussion of installing Linux follows. Next, the configuration of relevant network services is described. Finally, there is a brief discussion of security. If you are adding clustering software to an existing collection of workstations, presumably Linux is already installed on your machines. If this is the case, you can probably skim the first couple of sections. But while you won't need to install Linux, you will need to ensure that it is configured correctly and all the services you'll need are available.