openMosix was a
free cluster
may refer to:
Science and technology Astronomy
* Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft
* Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family
* Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...
management system that provided
single-system image In distributed computing, a single system image (SSI) cluster is a cluster of machines that appears to be one single system. The concept is often considered synonymous with that of a distributed operating system, but a single image may be presented ...
(SSI) capabilities, e.g. automatic work distribution among
nodes
In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a Vertex (graph theory), vertex).
Node may refer to:
In mathematics
*Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph
*Vertex (geometry), a point where two ...
. It allowed program
processes (not
threads) to migrate to machines in the node's
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
that would be able to run that process faster (
process migration
In computing, process migration is a specialized form of process management whereby processes are moved from one computing environment to another. This originated in distributed computing, but is now used more widely. On multicore machines (multip ...
). It was particularly useful for running parallel applications having low to moderate
input/output
In computing, input/output (I/O, or informally io or IO) is the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer, and the outside world, possibly a human or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals ...
(I/O). It was released as a
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
patch, but was also available on specialized
Live CD
A live CD (also live DVD, live disc, or live operating system) is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading fro ...
s. openMosix development has been halted by its developers, but the LinuxPMI project is continuing development of the former openMosix code.
History
openMosix was originally
fork
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
ed from
MOSIX
MOSIX is a proprietary distributed operating system. Although early versions were based on older UNIX systems, since 1999 it focuses on Linux clusters and grids. In a MOSIX cluster/grid there is no need to modify or to link applications with an ...
by
Moshe Bar on February 10, 2002 when MOSIX became
proprietary software
Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and int ...
.
openMosix was considered stable on
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
2.4.x for the
x86 architecture
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
, but porting to Linux 2.6 kernel remained in the alpha stage. Support for the 64-bit
AMD64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mod ...
architecture only started with the 2.6 version.
On July 15, 2007, Bar announced that the openMOSIX project would reach its
end of life on March 1, 2008, due to the decreasing need for
single system image (SSI) clustering as low-cost
multi-core processor
A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...
s increase in availability.
OpenMosix used to be distributed as a
Gentoo Linux
Gentoo Linux (pronounced ) is a Linux distribution built using the Portage package management system. Unlike a binary software distribution, the source code is compiled locally according to the user's preferences and is often optimized for the ...
kernel choice, but it was removed from Gentoo Linux's
''Portage tree'' in February 2007.
As of March 1, 2008, openMosix read-only source code is still hosted at SourceForge.
The LinuxPMI project is continuing development of the former openMosix code.
ClusterKnoppix
''ClusterKnoppix'' is a specialized
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
based on the
Knoppix distribution, but which uses the openMosix kernel.
Traditionally,
clustered computing
A computer cluster is a set of computers that work together so that they can be viewed as a single system. Unlike grid computers, computer clusters have each node set to perform the same task, controlled and scheduled by software.
The comp ...
could only be achieved by setting up individual
rsh keys, creating
NFS shares, editing host files, setting
static IP
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
s, and applying
kernel
Kernel may refer to:
Computing
* Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems
* Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution
* Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming
* Kernel method, in machine learnin ...
patch
Patch or Patches may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Patch Johnson, a fictional character from ''Days of Our Lives''
* Patch (''My Little Pony''), a toy
* "Patches" (Dickey Lee song), 1962
* "Patches" (Chairmen of the Board song) ...
es manually. ClusterKnoppix effectively renders most of this work unnecessary. The distribution contains an autoconfiguration system where new ClusterKnoppix-running computers attached to the network automatically join the cluster.
ClusterKnoppix is a modified Knoppix distro using the OpenMosix kernel.
See also
*
Kerrighed
Kerrighed is an open source single-system image (SSI) cluster software project. The project started in October 1998 at the Paris research group The French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control. From 2006 to 2011, the pro ...
*
OpenSSI
OpenSSI is an open-source single-system image clustering system. It allows a collection of computers to be treated as one large system, allowing applications running on any one machine access to the resources of all the machines in the cluster. ...
Live CDs
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
Live CD
A live CD (also live DVD, live disc, or live operating system) is a complete bootable computer installation including operating system which runs directly from a CD-ROM or similar storage device into a computer's memory, rather than loading fro ...
s with openMosix include:
*
CHAOS
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements
* Chaos (''Kinnikuman'')
* Chaos (''Sailor Moon'')
* Chaos (''Sesame Park'')
* Chaos (''Warhammer'')
* Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy''
* Cha ...
(a very small boot CD)
*
dyne:bolic
*
Quantian
''Quantian OS'' was a remastering of Knoppix/ Debian for computational sciences. The environment was self-configuring and directly bootable CD/DVD that turns any PC or laptop (provided it can boot from cdrom/DVD) into a Linux workstation. Quantia ...
, a scientific distribution based on clusterKnoppix
References
External links
*
openMosixWikiOriginal page at wayback archiveClusterKnoppix at sourceforge.net Clusterknoppix at distrowatchLoad-Balancing cluster HowTo using ClusterKnoppix* http://ftp.fi.muni.cz/pub/linux/clusterKnoppix/
* http://ftp.linux.cz/pub/linux/clusterKnoppix/
openMosix cluster sites
Cluster at National Taras Shevchenko University of KyivHydra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Openmosix
Cluster computing
Internet Protocol based network software
Parallel computing