Linux Clustering Books

When trying to build a Linux cluster for the first time, the web can be a daunting place to try to find useful information. That is the main point of this site -- to try to help organize what is out there in some sort of not confusing way. However, sometimes a book is the most comforting way for a person to learn something -- I know that when I first started with Linux clustering, I went out, bought a book, read it cover to cover, was mad at how bad it was, and then I hit the web to search for useful info. :)

However, even the bad books are helpful, as they give you an idea of what kind of information you might need to build your cluster. In that spirit, we are presenting a list of books here which should help you in your learning about Linux clustering. Keep in mind, though, that some of these books are not very good -- we recommend checking out reviews of the books whenever you can to see what other people thought. If one person disliked it, that may not mean much, but if 10 people do, discretion may be advisable.

These days, there are so many books are the various aspects of Linux, from system administration to kernel and device driver programming, that we have changed this page around a bit, and are only presenting books specifically related (or obviously tangential) to the various aspects of clustering.

• Beowulf Cluster Computing with Linux
  
  Editors: William Gropp, Ewing Lusk, Thomas Sterling
  Published by: MIT Press
  Date Published: 2^nd Edition, December, 2003
  Publisher's Description: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp? sid=16D9DF95-7AD7-48ED-9658-8DCA762A8ACC&ttype=2&tid=9947
  ISBN: 0262692929
  



• Building Linux Clusters
  
  Author: David HM Spector
  Published by: O'Reilly and Associates
  Date Published: July 2000   (out of print)
  Publisher's description: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/clusterlinux
  ISBN: 1565926250
  
  Review by Joe Greenseid
  



• How to Build a Beowulf
  
  Authors: Thomas Sterling, John Salmon, Donald Becker, Daniel Savarese
  Published by: MIT Press
  Date Published: June 1999
  Publisher's Description: http://mitpress.mit.edu/book-home.tcl?isbn=026269218X
  ISBN: 026269218X
  
  Review by Joe Greenseid
  



• Linux Cluster Architecture
  
  Author: Alex Vrenios
  Published by: Sam's Publishing
  Date Published: July, 2002
  Publisher's Description: http://www.samspublishing.com/catalog/product.asp? product_id={9A0466FC-FCE2-43C2-B717-D481B4C05304}
  ISBN: 0672323680
  
  Review by Joe Greenseid
  
  
  
• Linux Clustering: Building and Maintaining Linux Clusters
  
  Author: Charles Bookman
  Published by: New Riders Publishing
  Date Published: June, 2002
  Publisher's Description: http://www.newriders.com/books/product.asp? product_id={25E50C13-4DFA-4837-93A5-66F28FA4E813}
  ISBN: 1578702747
  
  Review by Steve Krause
  



• Linux Clustering with CSM and GPFS
  
  Author: This is an IBM Redbook
  Published by: IBM Redbooks
  Date Published: December 2002
  Publisher's Description: http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/ 9445fa5b416f6e32852569ae006bb65f/ed3b3f24604dd5f685256c1e0060f01f
  Note: This can be viewed online in either HTML or PDF formats for free at the above link
  ISBN: 0738428086
  



• Linux HPC Cluster Installation
  
  Author: this is an IBM Redbook
  Published by: IBM Redbooks
  Date Published: June 2001
  Publisher's Description: http://publib-b.boulder.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/ 9445fa5b416f6e32852569ae006bb65f/e0384f6e6982b28986256a0f005b7ba4
  Note: This can be viewed online in either HTML or PDF formats for free at the above link
  ISBN: 0738422789
  

• High Performance Computing
  
  Authors: Kevin Dowd, Charles Severance
  Published by: O'Reilly and Associates
  Date Published: 2^nd Edition, August 1998
  Publisher's Description: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/hpc2/
  ISBN: 156592312X
  



• High Performance Cluster Computing: Architectures and Systems
  Volume 1
  
  Editor: Rajkumar Buyya
  Published by: Prentice Hall
  Date Published: June, 1999
  Publisher's Description: http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/1,4096,0130137847,00.html
  ISBN: 0130137847
  



• High Performance Cluster Computing: Programming and Applications
  Volume 2
  
  Editor: Rajkumar Buyya
  Published by: Prentice Hall
  Date Published: June, 1999
  Publisher's Description: http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/1,4096,0130137855,00.html
  ISBN: 0130137855
  



• In Search of Clusters
  
  Author: Gregory F. Pfister
  Published by: Prentice Hall
  Date Published: 2^nd Edition, January 1998
  Publisher's Description: http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/1,4096,0138997098,00.html
  ISBN: 0138997098
  

• Blueprints for High Availability: Designing Resilient Distributed Systems
  
  Authors: Evan Marcus, Hal Stern
  Published by: John Wiley & Sons
  Date published: January, 2000
  Publisher's Description: http://www.wiley.com/cda/product/0,,0471356018,00.html
  ISBN: 0471356018
  



• Clusters for High Availability
  
  Author: Peter S. Weygant
  Published by: Prentice Hall
  Date Published: 2^nd Edition, May 2001
  Publisher's Description: http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/ 1,4096,0130893552,00.html
  ISBN: 0130893552
  



• High Availability: Design, Techniques and Processes
  
  Authors: Floyd Piedad, Michael Hawkins
  Published by: Prentice Hall
  Date Published: December 2000
  Publisher's Description: http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/ 1,4096,0130962880,00.html
  ISBN: 0130962880
  



• Reliable Linux: Assuring High Availability
  
  Author: Iain Campbell
  Published by: John Wiley & Sons
  Date published: December, 2001
  Publisher's Description: http://www.wiley.com/cda/product/0,,0471070408,00.html
  ISBN: 0471070408