Easy setup for clustering home computers?

[Guest]

Hi,

I'd like to cluster my home computers so that any apps i run on one computer (could be host) use the resources of all the computers across my network.

The computers i'd like to cluster are

phenom II x6
amd dual core
core 2 duo
turion dual core

router is 10/100

I'm wanting to use this processing power as a single unit contributing to Seti@home and/or any apps i decide to run.

So far i've looked into using windows server 2008 to achieve this but i got a bit lost setting up the cluster and have a few questions, please excuse my beginner knowledge.

I'm fairly sure i need to use a Load balancing cluster arrangement rather than a failover, is this correct?

Do all the computers need to run a server version of windows or can i create a cluster with just one version and have different os on the other pc's?

Are there any programs/wizards out there that don't need windows server to run a cluster between home computers?

What is a good definitive way to test a cluster is working?

If you could help with any of these questions or point me in the right direction to getting this sorted please post. Thanks

 

[PhilFrisbie]

Where to begin. . .

If you want all those PCs to contribute to Seti@home then just install the client on all of them with the same participant information.

Yes, if you want to build a cluster you would need to run Windows Server on all of them, and that would not be pleasant due to default security settings on Windows Server.

For software to take advantage of a cluster it must be written for clustering, and that is not trivial.