Guide...

here is the guide I'm using...
http://www.rocksclusters.org/roll-documentation/base/5.1/

By the way, it wants 1 gig of ram, but I'm sure I can dig that up or come somewhere close enough to it... I've run plenty of computers on less ram than recommended.

Just found something interesting

http://www.rocksclusters.org/

I think that is what I want to do... it simplifies everything a lot too.

Rethinking...

I decided to rethink my idea, and I am only going to start out with 2 nodes (master and slave). It won't show any speed, but it should be a lot easier to get up and running. Here is my updated list...

24-port network switch 1
Motherboard 2
CPU 2
PC cases 2
128 MB SDRAM SIMMs 4
100 Mb/s ethernet adapters 3
HDD 2
SVGA adapter 2
CD-ROM 1
Keyboard 1
Monitor 1
Monitor/keyboard 4 way switch boxes 1
keyboard extension cables 1
video extension cables 1
network cables 3
Surge Protector outlets 1
Total Nodes 2

I'm going for it!

Alright, so I am going for the gold here and am going to attempt to make a 5 node system (one main computer and 4 nodes, or slaves). Here is the basic list I am using, adapted from http://www.cacr.caltech.edu/beowulf/tutorial/building.html.

24-port network switch 1
Motherboard 5
CPU 5
PC cases 5
128 MB SDRAM SIMMs 10
100 Mb/s ethernet adapters 6
HDD 5
SVGA adapter 5
CD-ROM 1
Keyboard 1
Monitor 1
Monitor/keyboard 4 way switch boxes 2
keyboard extension cables 4
video extension cables 4
network cables 6
Surge Protector outlets 1
Total Nodes 5

Sorry about the formatting...

I am currently downloading Fedora (open source redhad), opensolaris (open source solaris), mandriva (updated mandrake linux), and xubuntu (ubuntu with the xfce window manager instead of gnome)

AHHH!

AHHHHH! HEEEELLLPPPP!!! WHATS GOING ONN???? WHAT AM I DOING??!?