Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!usc!venera.isi.edu!raveling
From: raveling@venera.isi.edu (Paul Raveling)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: Experience sought with large HP 9000 clusters
Message-ID: <8747@venera.isi.edu>
Date: 24 Jun 89 00:54:22 GMT
References: <3517@cps3xx.UUCP> <920029@hp-ses.SDE.HP.COM>
Reply-To: raveling@venera.isi.edu (Paul Raveling)
Organization: Information Sciences Institute, Univ. of So. California
Lines: 34

In article <920029@hp-ses.SDE.HP.COM> wunder@hp-ses.SDE.HP.COM (Walter Underwood) writes:
>
>   Questions: Is this a reasonable number of cnodes per cluster? Has anyone
>   experienced problems running out of process ids in a large cluster? Does
>   anyone have a workaround for the inability to put spooled devices, e.g.,
>   printers, on cnodes? Any advice? Horror stories?
>
>I don't know, but we run with about 10 nodes per cluster.  Also, I might
>put more than 12 Meg in the rootserver.
>
...
>I don't have any horror stories, but check out your ethernet carefully.
...

	We're not exactly using a standard cluster configuration,
	but we have 8 9000/350's (make that 370's -- we're swapping
	boards this week) plus about about 13-15 9000/320's still
	in active use.  All are swapping on local disks, but are
	using a single 350 file server with 8 MB of RAM for most
	file storage.

	They share ethernet with about 50-60 Suns, Symbolics's, TI
	Explorers, and a few other machines, including VAXes.  Most
	of the Suns ARE running diskless.  I believe they've been
	repartitioning the ethernet in the course of remodeling our
	building to keep the network from getting out of hand.

	Anyway, it works.  The HP file server doesn't seem excessively
	loaded yet, and the ethernet's handling the load well enough.


----------------
Paul Raveling
Raveling@isi.edu