Author: JT Smith
“The notion of linking computers together is not new.
In the 1950s and 1960s the U.S. Air Force
established a network of vacuum-tube computers
called SAGE to guard against a Soviet nuclear
attack. In the mid-1980s Digital Equipment
Corporation coined the term “cluster” when it
integrated its mid-range VAX minicomputers into larger systems. Networks of
workstations–generally less powerful than minicomputers but faster than
PCs–soon became common at research institutions. By the early 1990s scientists
began to consider building clusters of PCs, partly because their mass-produced
microprocessors had become so inexpensive. What made the idea even more
appealing was the falling cost of Ethernet, the dominant technology for connecting
computers in local-area networks.” More at ScientificAmerican.com.
In the 1950s and 1960s the U.S. Air Force
established a network of vacuum-tube computers
called SAGE to guard against a Soviet nuclear
attack. In the mid-1980s Digital Equipment
Corporation coined the term “cluster” when it
integrated its mid-range VAX minicomputers into larger systems. Networks of
workstations–generally less powerful than minicomputers but faster than
PCs–soon became common at research institutions. By the early 1990s scientists
began to consider building clusters of PCs, partly because their mass-produced
microprocessors had become so inexpensive. What made the idea even more
appealing was the falling cost of Ethernet, the dominant technology for connecting
computers in local-area networks.” More at ScientificAmerican.com.
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- Linux
