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From: buck@siswat.UUCP (A. Lester Buck)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.admin,comp.unix.large,comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: Killer Micro Question
Message-ID: <577@siswat.UUCP>
Date: 16 Nov 90 04:11:45 GMT
References: <16364@s.ms.uky.edu>
Organization: Photon Graphics,  Houston
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In article <16364@s.ms.uky.edu>, randy@ms.uky.edu (Randy Appleton) writes:
> I have been wondering how hard it would be to set up several 
> of the new fast workstations as one big Mainframe.
> 
> The idea is that as each person logs into the Login Server, their login 
> shell is acually a process that looks for the least loaded Server, and 
> rlogin's them to there.

At least one instantiation of exactly this scheme is in the works.  The
Superconducting Supercollider experiment design laboratory put out a Request
For Proposal (one of many to come) six months ago that called for such a
pool of interactive server machines with a login server to route the initial
connection.  I haven't followed if the contract has been awarded yet.

The SSC would be a great place for a truly distributed OS like
Amoeba, but their RFP for a batch farm specifically called for
tightly coupled shared memory multiprocessors.  Maybe they will
wake up someday and check out the newer technology.

-- 
A. Lester Buck    buck@siswat.lonestar.org  ...!uhnix1!lobster!siswat!buck