Cluster Computing Explained

Imagine that instead of being a jolly, white-bearded man coming down your chimney, Santa is a computer server — and instead of little pink-cheeked elves or reindeers guiding his sleigh, his helpers are various smaller computers hooked into the (Santa) server. Santa (server) is connected to each one of his helpers (computers). He can easily delegate work to each of his helper while making sure none of them are overworked. If one of the elves hops off for lunch (sugar-cane berries, what else!), Santa can assign the task to another elf.

Similarly, if you have multiple computational tasks to be delegated, Cluster Computing would enable you to do so, while ensuring that no computer gets overworked. Just like the old saying, “Unity is Strength,” Cluster Computing employs numerous interconnected computers to strengthen your server infrastructure and processing capabilities. Interesting, right? Let’s find out more!
 

What Is Cluster Computing? Tell Us, Saint Nick!

In simple terms, Cluster Computing is an application with several computers connected to one server, in order to carry out the server's tasks more efficiently. When a server has multiple tasks and multiple processing needs, it requires more computers to ensure that the system does not overload or crash. That's why Santa uses nine reindeer; having more reindeer ensures that the sleigh is pulled faster and none of the reindeer are overburdened. Come on, Dancer! Come on, Prancer! Come on, Computer Number 64!

Cluster Computing is helpful when you want to prevent system crashes, especially when numerous people are accessing your servers or multiple processes are running at once. Hence, Cluster Computing is used in the world of high-performance computing such as running predictive models. Maybe it can help me predict what you might get for Christmas this year! Is it a bag of coal? How about a PS5?

Well, while we cannot predict the future, we can certainly tell you more about the past – let's look at the evolution of Cluster Computing.
 

History: Cluster Computing Through The Years

 
Cluster Computing was first developed in the 1960s. Yep, way back when! In the 1960s, we started developing networks that could link computing resources together. In 1962, the RAND Corporation invented such a networks, which in 1969, was expanded into a Cluster Computing system. This was called the ARPANET project. It evolved into what we now call the Internet. The ARPANET project is thought of as “the mother of all computer clusters.”

In the 1970s, Cluster Computing for research purposes really took off. The Unix and Hydra operating systems were created in the early 1970s. They were the standard until the 1980s, when it became easier to remotely distribute computing resources and share files.

In the 1990s, there was a rise of the “supercomputers” thanks to wealthy organizations investing in computing technologies. Santa’s workshop was about to be turbocharged! Supercomputers boasted of immense processing powers in a single computer. However, supercomputers were incredibly expensive. Cluster computers were developed as a much more cost-efficient alternative.

However, Cluster Computing evolved from the combination of multiple computing trends – not just the price tag of supercomputers! This included the availability of low-cost microprocessors, high-speed networking and software that enabled high performance computing. Today, Cluster Computing is used by some of the biggest names such as Google and Microsoft. The dream of tracking Santa’s route through the sky might just come true!

How Does Cluster Computing Work

So, how does Cluster Computing work? Is it a little sprinkle of Christmas magic that gets these bad boys running? The answer is much more technical but we’re here to make it easy for you!
 
A group of computers all connected to the same server is called a cluster. The server delegates tasks for the clusters to complete. A cluster of computers is able to process more data than a single supercomputer and thus can carry out more computationally intensive tasks. Each computer in the cluster is called a “node” (or you could name each one of them after Santa’s elves – no one would know!). These nodes form a cluster, which works like a hive-mind; all taking commands from the same source, that is the original server. Imagine all the little elves in Santa’s workshop working together to complete the gift orders. That’s Cluster Computing in a nutshell!

Parallel programming across the clusters is the real superstar here — the Rudolph of the system, if you will. Parallel programming is when many processors coordinate together to process a single problem that needs to be completed in a certain amount of time. One example of parallel programming is found in weather forecasting (well, Santa surely needs to take the weather into account!)

Since Cluster Computing is so efficient, it provides users with increased processing speeds, scalable computing across systems and high availability of computational resources. All of this is at a fraction of the cost of a supercomputer.
 

Why Cluster Computing Needs To Be On Your Christmas Shopping List

The processing power needed to match our leaps in technology is constantly growing. Think of Virtual Reality, Quantum Computing, simulation, or even tracking Santa’s sleigh.  Computer clusters were emerged to achieve the computational power of supercomputers but at a fraction of the cost. Businesses need reliable computational power that doesn’t burn a hole in their pockets. Heck, they can’t just book a supercomputer once a month!

Here’s where Cluster Computing comes in. Through a network of inter-connected computers, it helps businesses prevent site blackouts and improve the overall computational performance by distributing the workload. Through the use of parallel programming, clusters are able to provide massive computational power as and when the need arises. They do this by providing “fault tolerance,” which ensures constant availability of sufficient computational power.

Have we sold you yet? You need Cluster Computing because it has a much larger storage capacity, reduces the downtime of a network and provides much better security than a single-server system. Did we mention the cost savings? We mean, what’s the point in buying an expensive supercomputer if you’re only going to use it twice a year!
 

Types As Varied As Santa’s Reindeer!

Cluster Computing is also known as High Performance Computing. So, if you get confused by the term “cluster,” you can think of it as its function: high-performance. Having multiple nodes eliminates the limitations that single systems have. Moreover, Cluster Computing can be categorized as either Open or Closed.

An Open Cluster needs an IP (Internet Protocol) to work, that is, it needs to access the internet. This means there is a greater risk of a security breach, like someone climbing down your chimney – minus the gifts.

A Closed Cluster, on the other hand, is hidden behind the gateway node (think of the gateway node as your computer’s version of a safely locked chimney). This provides better security compared to Open Clusters.

Moving on, Cluster Computing has three main types of clusters depending on their function: load-balancing, high-availability and high-performance.
 

• Load-balancing

  clusters distribute their workload across multiple nodes (like Santa’s reindeer each pulling their weight at the reins).

• High-availability

  clusters, also known as “failover clusters, help with operational continuity in case there is a node failure.

• High-performance

  clusters are used to solve advanced computational problems, especially those requiring parallel processing.

 

The Gift that Keeps on Giving! Benefits of Cluster Computing.

Cluster Computing has various benefits. Firstly, there is a high availability of computing resources — you can do what you want, when you want – the system will intelligently delegate tasks to meet your demands . Additionally, Cluster Computing takes care of load balancing and management of the cluster, keeping businesses’ and corporations’ networks running smoothly.

Cluster Computing is also beneficial for tasks requiring scalability. It offers sustained computer performance through the dynamic scaling of computational resources. Moreover, excellent cost-efficiency, reliability and high processing speeds are some of the other great benefits.

These characteristics make Cluster Computing extremely useful for businesses deploying high-volume applications such as search engines and weather forecasting.

Speaking of forecasting, let’s see what the forecast for the future of Cluster Computing is...
 

The Legend of Santa Claus Isn’t Going Away Anytime Soon. And Neither Is Cluster Computing!

 
In the near future, businesses in various domains will use Cluster Computing to further traditional applications and processes – from weather forecasting to search engine optimization. Cluster Computing will likely shift more towards parallel computing, allowing us to develop computing systems with speeds a few hundred times greater than what we have today. Yes, you read that right!

NASA is developing Cluster Computing technology for climate studies to better model the changes in weather and predict events such as tsunamis, earthquakes and solar flares. Furthermore, businesses will be using clusters to optimize critical processes. For example, bankers will use Cluster Computing to optimize clients' portfolios depending on the changes in the financial sector. Cluster Computing could be applied to multiple cloud hubs to store data for an Artificial Intelligence system. The possibilities are limitless!

Imagine Santa without his dedicated team of elves trying to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve. Impossible, we say! Similarly, thanks to Cluster Computing's high availability of resources, scalability and excellent processing speed, we say it's impossible to ignore this technology in the future.

It’s Time To Return To The North Pole

We’re sure you enjoyed the journey through the fascinating world of Cloud Computing but it’s time to wrap things up (yeah, that was a present-wrapping pun!)

Cluster Computing is gaining popularity in today's computationally-driven world. While supercomputers cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, maintain and use, Cluster Computing hardware costs less than $500! What everyone once thought a fool's dream (inexpensive but high-powered computing) is a run-of-the-mill thing for businesses and organizations today.

So, if you are considering what type of system would best suit your business's needs, consider the many benefits of Cluster Computing and why it could be right for you - in short, get yourself some elves!