Beowulf Clusters Book
Brian G. Powell
Finally I have been able to find the "Building Beowulf Clusters Book"
(or is it "Linux Clusters")
but I hesitate to buy it: I went to Reiter's and they said something
like the 2nd edition ought to come out in October; and another
bookstore (MicroCenter) said "Well it will take many months after
it comes out before you see it on our shelf".
Does anyone know if the 2nd edition is coming out soon? Should I wait?
Should the errata on the website be good enough?
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Scott Burlington
> Finally I have been able to find the "Building Beowulf Clusters Book"
> (or is it "Linux Clusters")
> but I hesitate to buy it: I went to Reiter's and they said something
> like the 2nd edition ought to come out in October; and another
> bookstore (MicroCenter) said "Well it will take many months after
> it comes out before you see it on our shelf".
>
> Does anyone know if the 2nd edition is coming out soon? Should I wait?
Hi Brian,
Honestly, I'd wait. We bought the Linux Clusters book and honestly I
don't feel that version 1.0 was really worth it.
The software included could be useful, but as is always the case with
software an internet connection is far more valuable than a CD.
The book itself seems to have a hard time identifying it's
audience. There aren't many linux newbie's with $100 000 for a linux
cluster yet the book seems to have an apologetic attitude towards being
technical, frankly I find this a little baffling.
There are some good hints in the book, but honestly a good set of internet
links can be found on just about any beowulf web site for a list of
essential software. IMHO setting up the essential software yourself is
typically a valuable experience for administrators and users both.
There are many first-person references in the text, which is fine for
anecdotes, but in this case it seems to be more of a problem of hurried
editing, which is atypical of many O'Reilly publications which are usually
a pleasure to read. Perhaps 2nd edition will be a little more palatable.
Perhaps I am mistaken but isn't our moderator Robert G. Brown working on a
similar book about linux clusters? I have a feeling that if this is the
case then it may be worth waiting for.
my $0.02 ... regards,
Scott
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-------------------------------
Val Henson
> Honestly, I'd wait. We bought the Linux Clusters book and honestly I
> don't feel that version 1.0 was really worth it.
>
> The software included could be useful, but as is always the case with
> software an internet connection is far more valuable than a CD.
>
> The book itself seems to have a hard time identifying it's
> audience. There aren't many linux newbie's with $100 000 for a linux
> cluster yet the book seems to have an apologetic attitude towards being
> technical, frankly I find this a little baffling.
It seems to me that Linux newbies all too often find themselves in
charge of setting up a new Linux cluster. Witness the number of
rsh-related questions on this list. :)
I agree, an internet connection is more valuable than a CD, and in
this case, more valuable than the book. Someone setting up a Linux
cluster would probably be better off reading a few FAQ's, checking out
websites of other clusters, and reading the beowulf list archives.
-VAL