[Bioclusters] Debian cluster

[Nox]

Thanks for the info.

One more note I would like to add,
we noticed alot of breaking in packages as well,
in particular, xlibs, would not install,
(This is early tests)
What I found is that the xscreensaver package conflicted, once removed
it was ok.

Over all we eliminated any X-windows managers, so we have just a nice
CLI to play with.

I also noticed, that if I perform an apt-get upgrade rather than a 
apt-get dist-upgrade, packages remained much more stable.

Thanks again everyone

Nox
GenMicro Systems

On Fri, 2003-09-19 at 11:21, Nox wrote:
> Yes, the FAI pulls the images from a central server,
> which is a mirror of other sources,
> when we upgrade, or new updates occur, we doenload to the central box, 
> then the nodes pull the update from this server
> 
> 
> Thx
> On Fri, 2003-09-19 at 01:28, Matthew Laird wrote:
> > The one comment I would like to offer is out of courtesy to the Debian 
> > community I hope you will have a local mirror or the package archive or 
> > subset you are using.
> > 
> > On my personal machines I'm a Debian boy all the way just for the apt-get 
> > reason.  But if you're planning to build a 50+ machine cluster using 
> > Debian then run an apt-get upgrade on all of them when a patch comes 
> > out... that could add noticable strain to the mirrors over time as well as 
> > your institution's connection.
> > 
> > I know on campus we have a Redhat mirror just for on campus use.  I also 
> > have scripts to keep the subset I use on our cluster current and the 
> > machines patched.
> > 
> > This is definitely an avenue you might want to investgate for the courtesy 
> > reason plus it's just faster to install from a local mirror.
> > 
> > Another advantage I've learned about having a local mirror, especially 
> > with Debian, is you can freeze the packages at any point you want so you 
> > can always recreate the exact same configuration with no risk of package 
> > upgrades conflicting with something.  That is one beef I had with Debian a 
> > few years ago, mysterious package upgrades that sometimes broke other 
> > packages, but I guess that's what you get when using the unstable release. 
> > :)
> > 
> > Anyhow, just wanted to pass along those lessons I've learned.  Good luck, 
> > and let me know how Debian works out as the basis for a cluster.  I might 
> > rebuild mine from RH9 to Debian if you have great successes. :)
> > 
> > On Fri, 19 Sep 2003, Nox wrote:
> > 
> > > We have begun to investigate FAI and Debian for our clustering 
> > > solutions.
> > > 
> > > I have always been partial to Debian, its my OS of choice,
> > > has been for yrs.
> > > 
> > > So when I discovered the clustering tools, I was excited.
> > > (FAI, Fully Automated Install)
> > > 
> > > Does anyone have experience with this?
> > > Pitfalls, things to watch for,
> > > success stories etc.
> > > 
> > > from my perspective:
> > > 
> > > Debian offers ease of use
> > > Updates are a snap (apt-get) --Including security
> > > Ability to be a very minimalist system
> > > Quick access to Biotech tools (bioperl as an example)
> > > 
> > > We currently use debian as our Halted Firewall as well.
> > > 
> > > Thanks in advance
> > > 
> > > Nox
> > > GenMicro Systems
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Bioclusters maillist  -  Bioclusters@bioinformatics.org
> > > https://bioinformatics.org/mailman/listinfo/bioclusters
> > > 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Bioclusters maillist  -  Bioclusters@bioinformatics.org
> https://bioinformatics.org/mailman/listinfo/bioclusters