[Beowulf] Airflow

[Robert Fogt]

Hello beowulf mailing list,

How much harm does removing the computer case do?  I know computer cases are 
designed for the air flow, and without them I was wondering if there will be 
heating problems. My air conditioner will be enough for the amount of heat 
generated, but will I need circulation fans in the room also?

I created a test cluster of 8 nodes, removing all the cases and mounting 
everything onto a wire rack. It works fine with no heat problems. But I am 
concerned that once I build the entire 100 node cluster there will be 
problems. The book I am reading on HPC does not go into that detail.

I was thinking an air purifier that is always on will slowly circulate the 
air when the air conditioner is off.

I just don't have enough room to build this with the computers still in 
cases.

Robert