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I got almost 12 old PCs (P4 and similar) and i'd like to use them as if I had 1 single PC in order to use the computing power to compile and the harddrive as in a big nas. I gave a loot to ubuntu MAAS+Juju but it's not really what I want , a cloud . I need more a grid computing, something that makes all the PCs act as one single, computing wise. Any ideas ?

thank you

Angela Amato
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    http://askubuntu.com/questions/46964/what-to-do-with-a-cluster-of-old-computers-running-ubuntu – Tim Oct 28 '14 at 12:35
  • It really comes down to what kind of "computing" you want to do. What is it you want to compute? – MadMike Oct 28 '14 at 12:40
  • http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/how-to-build-a-powerful-distributed-computer-515197 – Tim Oct 28 '14 at 12:44
  • This could cost you more in electricity or spare part than to buy a big powerfull new one. – solsTiCe Jun 03 '15 at 15:11

1 Answers1

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  1. Install the same version of ubuntu on each old computer.
  2. Use the same account name and setup ssh public key auth on each.
  3. Install distcc following the instructions here: https://code.google.com/p/distcc/

That gets you "power to compile" exactly as you asked for.

Using the storage as a big nas is a bit more challenging. There are many approaches you could take. You could use cephfs or glusterfs or another distributed file system, but those tend to be complex and have a steep learning curve and take some time to configure and maintain.

Most nas devices expose things with SMB. You could use samba's DFS features to transparently redirect clients which connect to some head node, to various other nodes, depending on the path used. Its not really unified storage, but it may suit your needs.

Jay _silly_evarlast_ Wren
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