Editing Beowulf cluster (section)

==Systems==
No particular piece of software defines a cluster as a Beowulf. Typically only [[free and open source software]] is used, both to save cost and to allow customization. Most Beowulf clusters run a [[Unix-like]] operating system, such as [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]], [[Linux]], or [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]. Commonly used parallel processing libraries include [[Message Passing Interface]] (MPI) and [[Parallel Virtual Machine]] (PVM). Both of these permit the programmer to divide a task among a group of networked computers, and collect the results of processing. Examples of MPI software include [[Open MPI]]  or [[MPICH]]. There are additional MPI implementations available.

Beowulf systems operate worldwide, chiefly in support of [[scientific computing]]. Since 2017, every system on the [[Top500]] list of the world's fastest supercomputers has used Beowulf software methods and a [[Linux]] operating system. At this level, however, most are by no means just assemblages of commodity hardware; custom design work is often required for the nodes (often [[blade server]]s), the networking, and the cooling systems.