What is the cheapest way of connecting 15 cpu's to one monitor?

[Jerry Feldman]

First, check those systems to find out if they can boot without a keyboard 
and monitor. There has been some discussions on gnhlug about this also. 
There may be a BIOS setting for Quick Boot.
With Linux, you don't need a mouse. You may need to configure the kernel 
for console support on serial port. I havn't tried it. You shouls be able 
to manage the entire cluster via telnet.

"Kevin M. Gleason" wrote:
> Thanks for the suggestion but as you know in academia the 'thought' of the
> budget is usually larger than the fact. I'm really talking shoestring here
> (almost velcro). So much so that I'm even considering a fast connection optio
> n
> instead of a switch...stacking all computers for the bootstrap then connectin
> g
> then disconnecting each monitor and moving on to the next machine. Does that
> tell you how CHEAP is cheap? When I say cheap I really mean 'free or close to
> free'.
> 
> ----
> Kevin
> 
> "Matthew J. Brodeur" wrote:
> 
> >    If you're really concerned with cost, then the "best" solution is
> > probably out of the question, but I'll mention it anyway.
> >
> >    A company called Aten (www.aten-usa.com) makes a whole line of really
> > nice KVM hardware, in addition to all kinds of other fun toys. If I'm not
> > mistaken, this is the company that actually makes IOGear's MiniView series
> > switches. We have several of these in our test lab aove them.
> >    All of their switches provide device emulation, so every machine thinks
> > it has console hardware at all times. They're also hot-pluggable,
> > switchable from the keyboard, and the high end ones have on-screen
> > display. The MasterView series can also be daisy-chained up to 512 ports.
> >
> >    The bad news is the price. For your situation the MasterView Pro
> > CS-1016 is perfect, but it lists for $1495 plus $39/ea for the 16 cables
> > you'd need. If you look at PCNation, the whole package would be $1382+SH.
> >
> >    If money was no object, this is the solution I'd go with.
> >
> > --
> >      -Matt
> >
> > No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
> >                 -- Eleanor Roosevelt
> >
> > On Thu, 19 Oct 2000, Kevin M. Gleason wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I just got the college to loan me 16 Compaq P100's to build a (alright
> > > slow) Beowulf cluster and I have a bunch of mouses, monitors, and
> > > keyboards that I don't think I need. Is there a switch that I can buy
> > > that will reduce all of this hardware to quantity ONE? If so, get where
> > > and how much should I budget?
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Kevin
> > >
> > > -
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-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org


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