how to use a specific host alias for node name?

[RCB]

Gary,

One idea (leveraging the OTP) is to use pg2.    Make the computation nodes
register themselves with pg2, using a pre-defined group name (such as
'comp'.)   Then, from the master server, use pg2:get_members(comp) before
dispatching.   This will return a list of PIDs.   From there you can easily
get node names:

Workers = [node(Pid) || Pid <- pg2:get_members(comp)]

There are other ways, but this is pretty fast, dynamic (if a worker node
goes offline it is instantly reflected via pg2, and it solves the late
master problem you mentioned) and works well in some of the applications
I've written.

Rich

On 8/31/06, Garry Hodgson <garry@REDACTED> wrote:
>
> in our application, a master server has a list of nodes
> that it can use for computation.  in principle, we'd like
> the machines named node1, node2, ...nodeN, so the nodes
> would be node@REDACTED@nodeN.  but some of our
> installations have their own naming conventions for machines.
> adding aliases in /etc/hosts doesn't help.  so we resort to a
> config file, which seems kind of klunky.
>
> is there a way to cause the nodes to come up using a specific
> host alias?  or better yet, is there a better way for the master to find
> out who's out there?  the nodes check in when they come up,
> but this won't help if they're already up when master starts.
>
> and no, we're not using otp, alas, though i'd also be interested
> in otp approaches.
>
> ----
> Garry Hodgson, Senior Software Geek, AT&T CSO
>
> But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
> 'Cause I promised myself this year
> I feel like I owe it...to someone.
>
>


-- 
Rich Beerman
Cupertino, California
mobile: 408/221-2444
fax: 408/255-7944
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