What is Cluster Computing?
We all have heard of super computers. We call them that because they are a lot more advanced in every way than our normal desktop computers or laptops. Super Computers are used to do more complicated tasks that can never be done by a normal computer.
But we can’t always use a super computer every time we face a task that can’t be done by a normal desktop computer. The reason for that is super computers are so expensive and very rare. There are only a handful of super computers in the whole world. Thus in a situation like the above mentioned, we can use cluster computing.
What we do here is we combine (connect) a couple of desktop computers or laptops together to do the same task together so all the computers will be a single system. The cluster nodes will perform the same task and everything will be controlled over a shared software. So the system as a whole will be a lot faster and will be capable of doing the task in hand.
This will be a lot cost effective than buying a super computer and after we finish doing the task, we can disconnect the computers and use them individually for usual purposes. Also if one node (computer) needs maintenance during running, then we can do it while the other nodes handle the load. Since this is a scalable structure, you can add more nodes anytime you want (more computers). Since this method is relatively easy to configure, this is a popular solution among the IT world.
But there are disadvantages also. The main one is the cost. You will need multiple computers to do this since it requires good hardware. Not only that, it also requires a good design. Since cluster computers need more computers and servers, it will be hard to maintain and monitor so the infrastructure will increase.
But on an overall level, this method is a very practical and easy to implement. Since the IT industry is growing on an exponential level, cluster computing holds an important role so it’s very important to know what cluster computing is and the use of it. There are mainly 3 different kinds of clustering. They are fail over, Load balancing and high performance computing.
Mostly we use fail over and load balancing clusters. High performance method is mainly focused on configuring the cluster to perform on an extreme level and Load balancing method is where it let machines be least busy.
Overall, through cluster computing we can achieve lots of things. We can create fast computers and through that, it can perform tasks that are impossible to do by a single computer. So this method is an important thing to know in today’s world and most definitely you will need to use this method somewhere in the future.
