''In Search of Clusters (The Ongoing Battle in Lowly Parallel Computing (2nd Edition)''
by Gregory Pfister, Prentice Hall, 1997
[ISBN 0138997098]  or try [ISBN 0134376250]

This is an easy-on-the-brain introduction to the 
notion of clustering computers. 

Traditionally, parallel processing (or even distributed 
processing, or even dealing with concurrency issues) is 
an arcane subject, full of tricky side-passages and 
the occasional assertion that, in order to correctly
design code, you must use the correct modal logic 
and thrice ask for the god's blessing (If memory serves, 
the appropriate logic is S5).

Clusters are a recent notion in parallelism. The
basic notion is that there are two dominant trends 
in computing: the ever-faster single processor, and
the ever-increasing need for reliability.

Faster processors means that we don't need 65,536 
processors wired together in a liquid-nitrogen cooled
box to solve difficult problems. 

And the need for reliability means that we do need
at least one more processor, preferably in a different 
box. And that this better be easy to set up / use
(because the need is widespread and there ain't but
a few people who can hang with the earlier notions
of parallelism). 

Which is, sorta, what clusters are all about. 

The book is interesting, funny, and manages to cover an 
awful lot of information without either becoming overly 
technical *or* glossing over difficult issues. 

I'm not saying it'll be the last book you'll ever buy
on clustering or parallel programming. But it probably 
ought to be the first. 

WilliamGrosso

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If I'm understanding what "clusters" means correctly, for a 
real-world example of clusters at work, take a look at
http://www.distributed.net/ which uses idle time on Internet-connected 
computers to solve DES/RC5 keys. --KatyMulvey

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Oh, there are billions of examples. Many in the real world and
many announced. That's part of the point of the book (which,
alas, I neglected to mentioned). While academics and other
researchers mostly focused on the "crunch a hard problem"
notion of parallelism (things of the form "simulate the world's
weather in real time"), out in the world of everyday computing
different notions of parallelism arose. Clusters being one
of them.

The book starts with a genial introduction and then, in chapter
2, has an extensive list and discussion of examples. The idea
being that a long list of specific instances helps to ground
the rest of the discussion.

WilliamGrosso

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Pfisters book is very enjoyable if you are into this stuff. He
is obviously a man of great experience, which he seems to enjoy
passing on to others.

He explains well how cluster systems are both similar to, and 
different from, both parallel systems and distributed systems.

RichardCollins
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CategoryBook