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US 2003/0195931 A1Published application
Method and system for parallel operation and control of legacy computer clusters
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorDean Dauger
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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorDean Dauger
Estimating the term…
A Method and System for Parallel Operation and Control of Legacy Computer Clusters is disclosed. Also disclosed is a system that permits the creation of a cluster computer using the legacy operating systems already existing on the computing devices. The system is further be able to seamlessly operate over a standard wide are network, such as the “Internet,” as well as over local area networks. The system further permits the individual computers to operate either as part of the cluster, or on local operations, without any need for modification to the other computers involved in the cluster. Still further, the system utilizes standard TCP/IP format for all internodal messaging. Finally, the system maintains performance “grades” for each cluster node, either by node self-grading, or by node reporting, such that the user can select which nodes to participate in a particular parallel application.
A method of providing a cluster computer, the method being implemented in at least two programmed computers, each said programmed computer comprising a processor, a standard operating system, at least one data storage system, at least one input device, at least one output device, and at least one external network interface, said network interfaces of all said programmed computers interconnecting said programmed computers over a communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of converting a conventional programmed computer comprising a processor, a standard operating system, at least one data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one external network interface, the method comprising the steps of:
A cluster computing system, comprising:
A method of providing a cluster computer, the method being implemented in at least two programmed computers, each said programmed computer comprising a processor, a standard operating system, at least one data storage system, at least one input device, at least one output device, and at least one external network interface, said network interfaces of all said programmed computers interconnecting said programmed computers over a communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
A method of converting a conventional programmed computer comprising a processor, a standard operating system, at least one data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one external network interface, the method comprising the steps of:
A cluster computing system, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks: delegation of network…
Standardisation; Integration: standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
Digital communication
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to parallel computing systems and, more specifically, to a Method and System for Parallel Operation and Control of Legacy Computer Clusters
2. Description of Related Art
The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of pertinent functional components of a conventional computing device;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of pertinent functional components of a conventional computing device as it would be modified for operation as a node in a cluster computer under the prior art;
The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide a Method and System for Parallel Operation and Control of Legacy Computer Clusters.
The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of pertinent functional components of a conventional computing device 10 as it would be modified for operation as a node in a cluster computer under an embodiment of the method and system of the present invention. It should be apparent that with the exception of the cluster node control and interface application 20E, all of the components of the device 10 are identical to those found above in FIG. 1. As such, the device 10 will be fully functional as a legacy device, while also enabling the processor(s) 12 to be shared with external computers (or to “borrow” the processor(s) from external computers if the present device 10 were “node 0,” or the computer controlling the cluster). Since the operating system 14 has remained the same, the CPU kernel 22, I/O kernel 24 and memory kernel 26 are all just as they were prior to the installation of the application 20E. If we examine the process of FIG. 4, we can understand how each node of a cluster computer might be created using the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of the method 400 of the present invention for converting a legacy computing device to a cluster-enabled computing device. The initial step 402 includes obtaining a personal computer; the computer must be fully functional and include (in addition to those components discussed above in connection with FIG. 3) a hard drive and a network connection. The operating system must provide a a standard protocol for discovery of network services; a suitable example could be Apple Computer's Macintosh OS 9.0 or later wherein TCP/IP-based Services Location Protocol (SLP) libraries are maintained inside of the Apple Network Services Location Manager (NSLM) for discovery of other nodes over IP-based networks. It is expected that a network built from nodes having a standard network service discovery protocol will operate perfectly as described herein. It should be noted that, unlike the Beowulf systems described previously, there is no need for the operating system to maintain a library of the nodes in a cluster (or proposed cluster); as will be discussed further below, the node library is a dynamic list, rather than a fixed library. In other embodiments of the present system, a program (and process) module for discovering network services may be found; this module would be particularly desirable where the operating system does not include functionality such as the SLP and NSLM.