[Bioclusters] Linux on Xserve, anyone?

[Lee Watkins]

Tim Cutts wrote:
> If I were the OP I'd just stick a Debian 4.0 CD in one and have a go.  
> The only tricky part might be the boot loader; I don't know whether 
> the Etch installer will recognise that it needs to use ELILO rather 
> than grub on these machines.  I think it probably will Do The Right Thing;


Thanks Tim, I might try booting Debian off a USB stick since supposedly 
it has problems with completing the install from CD...


> Hmm - on closer inspection it looks like the elilo package has not 
> been built for the amd64 architecture, so perhaps not:
>
> http://packages.debian.org/stable/debian-installer/elilo-installer
>
> it looks like it's built for i386 and ia64 only.  So you might 
> initially have more luck installing the 32-bit OS than the 64-bit 
> one.  *shrug*.


Gotta be 64-bit - we're processing 1M SNP arrays now and need the RAM!   
I read that the ELILO 3.7 beta released a few weeks ago now has x86_64 
support... looks like it was developed tested on a Woodcrest UEFI 
machine that might be +/- equivalent to the new Intel Xserve:  
<http://sourceforge.net/projects/elilo/>

 From reading the DebianOnIntelMacPro post that Bob Olson pointed out I 
gather that Ubuntu "Feisty" includes a custom kernel including the 
Mactel-linux patches 
<http://mactel-linux.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/mactel-linux/trunk/> so 
I'm talking to them again about certifying Ubuntu on Intel Xserve since 
it might be worth the (relatively minor) cost.

So it sounds like this should be possible, if not now then very soon.

-- 

Lee Watkins, Jr.
Director of Bioinformatics
Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR)
Institute of Genetic Medicine
Johns Hopkins Bayview Research Campus
333 Cassell Drive, Triad Bldg. Suite 2000
Baltimore, MD 21224

lwatkins at jhu.edu | www.cidr.jhmi.edu
410-550-7042 ofc | 410-903-2989 urgent_only