Linking Computers?

Xgrid

Edit: Enable and configure it through System Preferences -> Sharing -> Services -> Xgrid.

 

nope its software: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/xgrid/ its a clustering setup, which is what you were dsecribing.

 

XGrid is indeed a software clustering solution. However you should also be aware that the application software you use needs to be XGrid aware for you to see any performance improvement.

 

First, you need to understand two concepts or learn to read.

The first is the term "Networking". In the computer world networking means the ability to transfer information (data) from computer to computer.

However, with networking you can do things like "serve" files, webpages, e-mail etc. i.e. you need to have a network before you can have a "server". So with a network another Mac A can use the HD in Mac B. As for working on a project at the same time it isn't that case. There are ways to do this, but it is beyond the scope of this post. Read about SAN technology.

The second thing you need to understand is a "cluster". a cluster is a group of computer connected by a "network". there are several different models on how cluster work. The main idea is that computer across a network share memory and their processing power to complete a large task. a good basic example is http://distributed.net or http://folding.stanford.edu/.

Now you understand basically what a cluster is now we can talk about xgrid. Xgrid came about after the System X project. http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/vatech2/

Xgrid is an easy way to organize you computers in a grid and/or cluster. in this example you can use the terms in place of the other.

 

Yes, you can "network" two Macs using a "crossover" ethernet cable or with an ethernet switch (or hub) using regular ethernet cables. You just need to set it up in the Networking section of System Prefs. There is Help to guide you.

Yes, you can network over FireWire using OS X Tiger. Never tried it, but it's there.

No, it's not going to make anything faster - you'll share resources like disks, but not CPUs.

XGrid will allow multiple CPU tasking, but you'll need to be a fairly good programmer to set that up, and if you were, you probably wouldn't have made this post...

There is a way to do distributed rendering of some things, like Shake projects or Compressor batches, but it requires a properly networked group of computers, QMaster, and a bunch of licenses for some pretty expensive ProApps.

As usual, there's no free lunch...

 

Nope. Sorry.

Nope. Sorry.

 

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bonjour/ then click on the technology brief on the right side and read.

 

If you really understood what a cluster was your whole question would have been avoided.

 

I know what a carburator is but how does air get into an engine..

http://prestonandsteve.com/audio/47.mp3