What's the problem? Make a PS3 MD kboot over HTTP to the Core. Make the HTTP URL point at a CGI that checks all the MDs in the DB for one that's not busy playing, and return an HTTP redirect (or Object Moved etc) message pointing to that MD's HTTPd.
you would only fetch a small initrd over http and change the root dev over to nfsroot.
Revising kboot to use bittorrent to MDs is harder, but doable. Making MDs de/activate in the swarm whether they're busy or not is harder, but a doable tweak. And if we're trying to get MDs to boot fast (which several are, by hibernating), and remain diskless (which is an important way to keep MDs upgraded and manageable), this is a strategy. And if we want MDs to power up/down on changing presence info (which I do), this is an infrastructure to do it.
that would need an image based install. That has to fit in ram. Or tell me how you want to distribute a shared filesystem and export that from multiple hosts with nfs. For the file sizes in a typical linux install the cluster filesystem's overhead would kill the benefit.
Booting a host is already complex because of conditions varying while the machine is off and unresponsive. Network boot management adds more complexity. But there is an architecture here that is compatible with architecture already part of LMCE. That could be even better with some swarm tech. Designing a PS3 MD is a good opportunity to think through some of that "grand design" because of the PS3's limitations (balanced by strengths when actually running). For example, PS3 has only only 512MB RAM, a single SATA connection, and no PCI, so there are stategies to netboot, use a large SATA i-RAM bank as swap, and get something closer to a 16GB PS3 than just 0.5GB. And since we're talking about managing power (and cheaper HW overall), a BitTorrent boot swarm is one way to maximize the HW and power consumption, by decentralizing away from the busy Core whenever possible.
Don't you think it would be better to even try to compile our beast on ppc than to philosophize about designing some new boot system? Simply use a nfs mount and _start compiling_. But it's easier to talk about implementing torrent in kboot.
Well, you're talking about your variant too, and I don't see
you compiling it. It's not "philosophy", it's a design discussion. That was asked about by the original poster. I've got a PS3 with Ubuntu also, and I've mentioned it as MD on these forums before. It's a low-priority project for me, but if it's higher for someone else, I'm happy to share my design discussion with them.
There's some kind of bad attitude on these forums towards people, often myself, discussing advanced or "deluxe" designs for other people to try. If you want to critique the design, that's perfectly welcome. But just slamming me for discussing it with someone who's interested, leaving it there for later pickup when others are interested, is at least a waste of your time, and is really obnoxious. If you're not interested, just ignore it and work on your own priorities. Don't get rude with me for working on mine.