# Amazing linux cluster in IKEA file cabinet!!!



## Apocolypse007 (Aug 27, 2008)

I thought this was very interesting and worth a look!

http://helmer.sfe.se/

I can only dream of being able to afford building something of that magnitude.


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## blueskynis (Aug 27, 2008)

WoW Truly awesome


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## kyle2020 (Aug 27, 2008)

holy crap  that is really crazy haha. How much did all that cost?! 48GB RAM? lmao!


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## Polaris573 (Aug 27, 2008)

My guess is about $5,000-$6,000.  Which is peanuts when you compare it to a top of the line mac pro ($13,00+) that everyone says is so great for rendering, even though it has fewer processors and less RAM than this creation.  You could probably even get an alienware that would cost more. You're looking at way more than even the mac pro or alienware if you go for an IBM server or something similar.  Very cost effective if you need that much power.


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## suraswami (Aug 27, 2008)

Apocolypse007 said:


> I thought this was very interesting and worth a look!
> 
> http://helmer.sfe.se/
> 
> I can only dream of being able to afford building something of that magnitude.



that's an old article, but still feels good to look at that monster.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Aug 27, 2008)

That looks pretty cool.  I wanna do that with my old PIIIs.


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## Easy Rhino (Aug 27, 2008)

that is a pretty awesome setup. i wonder what rendering that guy does. also, how are the HDDs setup. does each board have a HDD or is there some sort of external configuration.


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## Lillebror (Aug 27, 2008)

http://helmore.sfe.se/ - more pics
And it only costed about 3500$ - Thats pretty cheap for a render farm!


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## Frick (Aug 28, 2008)

PVTCaboose1337 said:


> I wanna do that with my old PIIIs.



And then you'd have almost as much computing power as you have now.


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 28, 2008)

Polaris573 said:


> My guess is about $5,000-$6,000.  Which is peanuts when you compare it to a top of the line mac pro ($13,00+) that everyone says is so great for rendering, even though it has fewer processors and less RAM than this creation.  You could probably even get an alienware that would cost more. You're looking at way more than even the mac pro or alienware if you go for an IBM server or something similar.  Very cost effective if you need that much power.



And do all applications have the ability to run distributed on a cluster? I don't think so, which makes the mac pro faster.
Of course, applications that do have this functionality, would prefer the cluster.


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## Easy Rhino (Aug 28, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> And do all applications have the ability to run distributed on a cluster? I don't think so, which makes the mac pro faster.
> Of course, applications that do have this functionality, would prefer the cluster.



i think his point is that everyone hypes the mac pro for rendering when for half the price you can build a cluster that is 5 times more powerful. obviously you wouldnt buy a mac pro just for rendering and obviously you wouldnt build a cluster for anything more than rendering and a few other tasks.


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## Polaris573 (Aug 28, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> And do all applications have the ability to run distributed on a cluster? I don't think so, which makes the mac pro faster.
> Of course, applications that do have this functionality, would prefer the cluster.



For the builder's purpose, the rendering of detailed graphics, the cluster is faster.  I was also referring to the specific task of graphics rendering.  The point is moot..... you just want to argue.


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## wolf2009 (Aug 28, 2008)

Now would windows run on such platform , How about video encoding in x264 codec on that platform (maybe with avidemux in Ubuntu ) ?


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## Easy Rhino (Aug 28, 2008)

Polaris573 said:


> you just want to argue.


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 28, 2008)

wolf2009 said:


> Now would windows run on such platform , How about video encoding in x264 codec on that platform (maybe with avidemux in Ubuntu ) ?



Why not? MSCS and HPC do have a market share. Video encoding isn't the most logical use though. It's mostly rendering and scientific uses.


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## theJesus (Aug 28, 2008)

That's quite impressive.  I wonder how it compares to the Video Toaster.


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## newtekie1 (Aug 28, 2008)

Easy Rhino said:


> that is a pretty awesome setup. i wonder what rendering that guy does. also, how are the HDDs setup. does each board have a HDD or is there some sort of external configuration.



Each board has its own HDD, essentally, each board/level is its own computer, they are all just linked via the network.  If you look closely at the pictures, you will see a yellow SATA cable for each motherboard.  It looks like he just put the HDD upside down on the PCI section of the motherboard.


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## 7mm (Sep 10, 2008)

*Wooow..., that is impressive work for sure. Specially with that HDD cloning process, which could test men's cool all the way. Nice work buddy, must've got deep pockets to build this mammoth. CHEERS!*


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## Easy Rhino (Sep 10, 2008)

newtekie1 said:


> Each board has its own HDD, essentally, each board/level is its own computer, they are all just linked via the network.  If you look closely at the pictures, you will see a yellow SATA cable for each motherboard.  It looks like he just put the HDD upside down on the PCI section of the motherboard.



so how do you get the processors to work in tandem?


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