LittleFe is the idea of building a complete, low-cost cluster for educational purposes. The goal of the LittleFe is to provide an instructional cluster that can be used to teach various aspects of parallel and High Performance Computing -- not as a computational resource. Here are some links to the existing LittleFe web pages:
A few of us at LSU are interested in building a LittleFe. In particular, I am interested in the idea of an AMD-based LittleFe for the following reasons:
Here is the begining of the parts list that I am looking at:
| Category | Description | Quantity | Each | Price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| motherboard | Newegg.com - ZOTAC GF8200-C-E AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard | 5 | $99.99 | $499.95 | $499.95 |
| processor | Newegg.com - AMD Phenom 9150E 1.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 65W Quad-Core Processor | 5 | $79.99 | $399.95 | $899.9 |
| power supply | PICOPSU-150-XT | 5 | $49.5 | $247.5 | $1147.4 |
| memory | G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit | 5 | $90.99 | $454.95 | $1602.35 |
| power supply | 150w AC-DC Power Adapter, 12v 12.5A | 5 | $44.5 | $222.5 | $1824.85 |
| switch | NETGEAR GS108 | 1 | $59.99 | $59.99 | $1884.84 |
| Case | Pelican 1610 Watertight Hard Case with Wheels, without Foam - Black | 1 | $175.99 | $175.99 | $2060.83 |
| hardware | 1/4" x 1/2" x 8' aluminum channel (motherboard guides) from Lowes | 1 | $9.22 | $9.22 | $2070.05 |
| hardware | 1/4" x 1" x 8' aluminum (sides) from Lowes | 1 | $21.48 | $21.48 | $2091.53 |
Total (so far): $2091.53
Spent so far: $2475.38
| Status | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| complete | processor | have 1 9150e for head node and 4 905e for compute nodes |
| complete | memory | 5 pairs of 2 GB dimms |
| complete | motherboards | have 2 -- need 3 more (ordered Mar 26, 2010) |
| Ordered | switch | 8 port switch (gigabit) - ordered Apr 28, 2010 |
| Ordered | power supply | 5 pico PS and 12 volt supply ordered - Apr 28, 2010 |
| orderd | case | Pelican case - Apr 28, 2010 |
| in progress | frame | Aluminum for sides is her - front and back still to be acquirede |
Beyond the above prices, we still need all the mechanical hardware parts and pieces (and all of the other stuff I have forgotten).
If you are interested in this project, please join our local mailing list.
Latest hitch is that Newegg (and everyone else) seems to be out of 9150e CPUs.