Questions for the meeting with the LIGO advisory committee:

MEMORY/STORAGE:

1. What is the minimum amount of memory required per CPU (excluding RAM disk)?
2. What is the minimum amount of disk storage required per CPU? (for software? for scratch space?)
3. Is there a recommended hard disk type? (EIDE, ultra DMA, SCSI, ...)
4. Are there any concerns related to using network-mounted disks as primary disk storage on each node?
5. What about RAID?
6. How will LIGO data be distributed?
7. What is the recommended amount of on-site data storage required (available upon request, archived)?

PROCESSORS:

1. Is there preference for Pentiums over Athlons (or vice versa)?
2. For Intel processors, are Intel motherboards preferable to others?
3. What about multi-processor boards?
4. What minimum bus speed is required? CPU speed?

NETWORKING:

1. Will 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet) suffice?
2. What about multiple NICs per node?
3. Is there a recommended hierarchical network architecture for connecting Beowulf nodes?

RACKMOUNT VS BOXES:

1. Are there advantages/disadvantages of using boxes?
2. Are there advantages/disadvantages of using a rackmount approach?
3. Is there reason to believe that EM shielding is a concern for the rackmount approach? (If so, what kind of shielding is important?)
4. Is there reason to believe that cooling issues are a concern for the rackmount approach? (If so, could they be overcome with forced cooling with conduits on top of the rackmount?)

Responses