Beowulf Cluster Computing with Windows

Beowulf clusters, which exploit mass-market PC hardware and software in conjunction with cost-effective commercial network technology, are becoming the platform for many scientific, engineering, and commercial applications. With growing popularity has come growing complexity. Addressing that complexity, this volume provides system users and administrators with the tools they need to run the most advanced Beowulf clusters. The book is appearing in both Linux and Windows versions in order to reach the entire PC cluster community, which is divided into two distinct camps according to the node operating system. Each book consists of three stand-alone parts. The first provides an introduction to the underlying hardware technology, assembly, and configuration. The second part offers a detailed presentation of the major parallel programming librairies. The third, and largest, part describes software infrastructures and tools for managing cluster resources. This includes some of the most popular of the software packages available for distributed task scheduling, as well as tools for monitoring and administering system resources and user accounts.