Small disk usage : The distribution fits on a 1 GB USB stick, but 2 GB would be good for multi BOINC project
crunching. The HDD installation requires about 2,5 GB, and the diskless server requires 1,5 GB plus 1,5 GB for
each diskless client you would add.

Distributed Computing Linux

Distributed Computing Linux (DCLinux) is a small 512MB linux distribution that started as a concept on a DC forum. It's based on stripped-down Debian Lenny, and has BOINC client installed. Its main purpose is to ease the setup of a dedicated DC machine (often diskless, barebones, case-less computers bought solely for the purpose of crunching DC projects) to participate in distributed computing projects. It can also be used to create big DC farms for hardcore DC fanatics.

Here are some advantages of using DCLinux:
- Easy to install. There is no hustle with configuration files, network set-up, or any hardware changes to your DC box.
- Requires only 512MB of disk space, so you can reuse your old USB stick or buy a cheap new one (2GB costs less than $10 these days).
- Has BOINC client installed on it and configured to run out-of-the-box.
- Provides SSH daemon (by default turned off)
- Completely secure. By default, there are no daemons running, except BOINC.
- During system startup /var directory is copied to ramdisk, and then synchronized between ramdisk and filesystem every 6 hours and on system shutdown. This saves USB write cycles which is important as most USB flash drives have limited write operations.
- Has x86_64 kernel. It comes handy for those systems where main OS is 32 bit, but you want to use the machine for crunching at night and take advantage of 64-bit CPU.
- It can spin down your hard drives to lower power consumption, heat and noise.
- It is Debian-based so you can apt-get anything you want and fine-tune the system according to your needs.


Changelog

v0.2 - Jan 12 2009
- Added package for X86 architectures
- Added hdparm package for spinning down hard disks
- Improved Grub boot menu options