Possible to combine the power of two computers?

[Doc]

Wondering if there's a way to combine the computing power of 2
machines - in this case a 2.4gig PIV running XP Media Center and a
933mhz PIII running XP Home.

I.e. - say I have a particularly system intensive process such as
video rendering, any way to hook the two together to boost the power
of the 2.4 gig machine with the CPU of the 933mhz machine?

 

[Bhagat Gurtu]

Wondering if there's a way to combine the computing power of 2
machines - in this case a 2.4gig PIV running XP Media Center and a
933mhz PIII running XP Home.

I.e. - say I have a particularly system intensive process such as
video rendering, any way to hook the two together to boost the power
of the 2.4 gig machine with the CPU of the 933mhz machine?

Not that you're capable of. Why don't you run down to the local corner store and buy
a dual or quad core CPU.

 

[Doc]

Not that you're capable of.

Does that mean yes it is or no it isn't?

 

[Augustus]

Not that you're capable of.

That would be no...

 

[mcheu]

Does that mean yes it is or no it isn't?

I suspect it's a very reluctant "yes, it's possible, but very
impractical for a home user, so the answer may as well be no"

Look up "Beowulf Cluster." Read through the online material,
starting with www.beowulf.org, and I think you might see what I
mean. Specifically, what you're looking to do is create a Class I
cluster.

 

[SteveSch]

Wondering if there's a way to combine the computing power of 2
machines - in this case a 2.4gig PIV running XP Media Center and a
933mhz PIII running XP Home.

I.e. - say I have a particularly system intensive process such as
video rendering, any way to hook the two together to boost the power
of the 2.4 gig machine with the CPU of the 933mhz machine?

Google the term clusters along with the operating system you want to use.
Most that I have seen are running Linux. Beowulf needs special software to
work. If you run Linux you might be interested in Mosix or OpenMosix.
These programs will automatically balance the load between different
computers. They do not require special programs to work.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2494

http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT2143783710.html

Steve

 

[DaveW]

Not outside of a high end computer research lab.

 

[oldpunker]

Wondering if there's a way to combine the computing power of 2
machines - in this case a 2.4gig PIV running XP Media Center and a
933mhz PIII running XP Home.

I.e. - say I have a particularly system intensive process such as
video rendering, any way to hook the two together to boost the power
of the 2.4 gig machine with the CPU of the 933mhz machine?

Yes it's possible.. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1815797,00.asp