Squeak Compute Farm

Previous Topic Next Topic
 
classic Classic list List threaded Threaded
8 messages Options
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Squeak Compute Farm

Zulq Alam-2
I've been reading some of the many posts on concurrency and multi-core
processors. As always, a very interesting discussion.

It got me thinking it would be cool if there was a generic Squeak
compute farm which you could utilize from any Squeak image. Just write
some code in a map/reduce fashion and send some jobs to the farm.

Perhaps running in spare cycles on the desktop and or dedicated servers.
Although I'm not sure how the latter could be funded.

We'd need to work out how to manage the code, job scheduling, security,
etc.  I doubt it would be easy but it may be very rewarding. Perhaps
someone has looked at something like this already?

It feels like there's an interesting idea in there somewhere. A language
extension that gives everyone access to a super computer.

I understand that if everyone is using the same super computer, it
ceases to be super but i doubt this would be the case.

Let me know what you think.

Zulq.


Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Squeak Compute Farm

Igor Stasenko
On 22/10/2007, Zulq Alam <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I've been reading some of the many posts on concurrency and multi-core
> processors. As always, a very interesting discussion.
>
> It got me thinking it would be cool if there was a generic Squeak
> compute farm which you could utilize from any Squeak image. Just write
> some code in a map/reduce fashion and send some jobs to the farm.
>
> Perhaps running in spare cycles on the desktop and or dedicated servers.
> Although I'm not sure how the latter could be funded.
>
> We'd need to work out how to manage the code, job scheduling, security,
> etc.  I doubt it would be easy but it may be very rewarding. Perhaps
> someone has looked at something like this already?
>
> It feels like there's an interesting idea in there somewhere. A language
> extension that gives everyone access to a super computer.
>
> I understand that if everyone is using the same super computer, it
> ceases to be super but i doubt this would be the case.
>
> Let me know what you think.
>

I think things which you proposing are just a distributed computing challenge.
If we could have a good distributed computing farm, there will be no
need in having a super-computer. A thousands(millions) of desktop PCs
can easily overcome a computing power of any super-computer known in
the world.

In my turn, i propose other idea: how about that each of us installing
a package for distributed computing and sharing own PC's computing
power. Then the BIG corporations will come and rent our computing
power :)

> Zulq.
>
>
>


--
Best regards,
Igor Stasenko AKA sig.

Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Squeak Compute Farm

Zulq Alam-2
Igor Stasenko wrote:

>
> I think things which you proposing are just a distributed computing challenge.
 >

Yes, but that doesn't make it easy to provide a safe, reliable and
effective compute farm that can be used from any Squeak image.

> If we could have a good distributed computing farm, there will be no
> need in having a super-computer. A thousands(millions) of desktop PCs
> can easily overcome a computing power of any super-computer known in
> the world.

This is what I mean when I write about a super computer. I don't mean a
single phsycial machine.

I think it would be hard to find a hundred machines, let alone thousands
or millions.

A backbone of a few servers might be a good way to get the ball rolling.

>
> In my turn, i propose other idea: how about that each of us installing
> a package for distributed computing and sharing own PC's computing
> power.
 >

This would and should be an option for adding compute power to the farm.
Although it should not be limited to this, i.e. dedicated servers etc.





Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

RE: Squeak Compute Farm

Sebastian Sastre-2
In reply to this post by Igor Stasenko
> In my turn, i propose other idea: how about that each of us
> installing a package for distributed computing and sharing
> own PC's computing power. Then the BIG corporations will come
> and rent our computing power :)
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Igor Stasenko AKA sig.
>
LOL :-D somhow this has to be a niche in market because it happens in other
industries. I saw once a video about, I think in Holland, common people get
toghether and become business partners and found the buy of an eolic power
plant then sell energy getting amortization and then collectiong dividends
(according to it's participation) to the big energy distributor of that
province making the wind work for them. Clean and clever. That business
scales to a farm of eolic power plants. Your proposal scales to a farm
(those PC's) of computing squeaks that could produce dividends according to
computing power provided/used. Is not that crazy you know?

Cheers,

Sebastian


Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

re: Squeak Compute Farm

ccrraaiigg
In reply to this post by Zulq Alam-2

Hi Zulq--

      This is something I'd like to do with Spoon.


-C

--
Craig Latta
improvisational musical informaticist
www.netjam.org
Smalltalkers do: [:it | All with: Class, (And love: it)]


Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Squeak Compute Farm

Jason Johnson-5
In reply to this post by Zulq Alam-2
This is something that would be possible with the concurrency solution
I was thinking about.  The Erlang methodology for Nodes joining a
group is pretty simplistic, I would would want something more secure
with perhaps more levels of access (e.g. this access level is only
permitted to send these specific messages) with the "handshake" based
on public/private key cryptography.

The rest would have to be built on top of this infrastructure, but I
think this would be a good foundation to start from.

On 10/22/07, Zulq Alam <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I've been reading some of the many posts on concurrency and multi-core
> processors. As always, a very interesting discussion.
>
> It got me thinking it would be cool if there was a generic Squeak
> compute farm which you could utilize from any Squeak image. Just write
> some code in a map/reduce fashion and send some jobs to the farm.
>
> Perhaps running in spare cycles on the desktop and or dedicated servers.
> Although I'm not sure how the latter could be funded.
>
> We'd need to work out how to manage the code, job scheduling, security,
> etc.  I doubt it would be easy but it may be very rewarding. Perhaps
> someone has looked at something like this already?
>
> It feels like there's an interesting idea in there somewhere. A language
> extension that gives everyone access to a super computer.
>
> I understand that if everyone is using the same super computer, it
> ceases to be super but i doubt this would be the case.
>
> Let me know what you think.
>
> Zulq.
>
>
>

Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Squeak Compute Farm

Zulq Alam-2
In reply to this post by ccrraaiigg
Hi Craig,

I did think of Spoon. But am not really familiar with it.

Let's say I have two spoon images, A and B. If I create new classes and
and methods in A can I then instatiate and run them in B?

Could B regulate what can and cannot be done, e.g. restrict access to
the file system, os processes, certain objects and methods?

Once A is done, could B identify and purge all the objects created?

Would this be possible if image B was a Spoon image but image A was not?

Regards,
Zulq.


Craig Latta wrote:
>
>      This is something I'd like to do with Spoon.
>


Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Squeak Compute Farm

Zulq Alam-2
In reply to this post by Jason Johnson-5
Hi Jason,

For a compute farm you maybe you'd only need one level of access? I
suppose it's not as much of a general concurrency solution.

Regards,
Zulq.

Jason Johnson wrote:

> This is something that would be possible with the concurrency solution
> I was thinking about.  The Erlang methodology for Nodes joining a
> group is pretty simplistic, I would would want something more secure
> with perhaps more levels of access (e.g. this access level is only
> permitted to send these specific messages) with the "handshake" based
> on public/private key cryptography.
>
> The rest would have to be built on top of this infrastructure, but I
> think this would be a good foundation to start from.
>
> On 10/22/07, Zulq Alam <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> I've been reading some of the many posts on concurrency and multi-core
>> processors. As always, a very interesting discussion.
>>
>> It got me thinking it would be cool if there was a generic Squeak
>> compute farm which you could utilize from any Squeak image. Just write
>> some code in a map/reduce fashion and send some jobs to the farm.
>>
>> Perhaps running in spare cycles on the desktop and or dedicated servers.
>> Although I'm not sure how the latter could be funded.
>>
>> We'd need to work out how to manage the code, job scheduling, security,
>> etc.  I doubt it would be easy but it may be very rewarding. Perhaps
>> someone has looked at something like this already?
>>
>> It feels like there's an interesting idea in there somewhere. A language
>> extension that gives everyone access to a super computer.
>>
>> I understand that if everyone is using the same super computer, it
>> ceases to be super but i doubt this would be the case.
>>
>> Let me know what you think.
>>
>> Zulq.
>>
>>
>>
>
>