Experiment needs help. Turning old computers into Application Servers

[MrCheeto]

I've got several old computers that I'd like to put to some use to ease the load on my MacBook Pro. I don't like having a three-hour battery life when sitting on the couch =\

I've got several TV shows on DVD that I want to rip and convert, but my notebook would be hard at work day and night, making noise and warming my lap.

Any ideas on how to utilize some Intel Processors, an AMD 64bit and a G4 to perform a single task and do so faster than they could individually?

I've heard of Linux distros that are platform indiscriminate, but I don't think that includes CPU architecture...

As well, my most powerful machine besides my MacBook Pro is the AMD 64bit, but I am currently running 32bit software on it and I hear that running in 64bit would produce 10% greater speeds when encoding files. Any idea how to utilize the CPU to the fullest?

Thanks all.

 

[lordonuthin]

I've got several old computers that I'd like to put to some use to ease the load on my MacBook Pro. I don't like having a three-hour battery life when sitting on the couch =\

I've got several TV shows on DVD that I want to rip and convert, but my notebook would be hard at work day and night, making noise and warming my lap.

Any ideas on how to utilize some Intel Processors, an AMD 64bit and a G4 to perform a single task and do so faster than they could individually?

I've heard of Linux distros that are platform indiscriminate, but I don't think that includes CPU architecture...

As well, my most powerful machine besides my MacBook Pro is the AMD 64bit, but I am currently running 32bit software on it and I hear that running in 64bit would produce 10% greater speeds when encoding files. Any idea how to utilize the CPU to the fullest?

Thanks all.

That sounds like clustering and I'm not sure you can do that with different systems. Usually a cluster is homogenous using all Windows or Linux. And it is complicated as well with messaging between cluster nodes and more...