One of the things I've been avoiding is creating a set of tools to manage the nodes of this bramble, but it's really the best thing to do in the long run. I just didn't want to get side tracked with a programming task that isn't directly related to getting this bramble to work in a parallel fashion.
Although its mixing metaphors pretty badly, what we need a Maestro - a conductor who can get all of the nodes to do the same thing at the same time, much like an orchestra. One has to wonder though what an orchestra characterized as a bramble would sound like.
At any rate, I've created a kit of primitive tools that help a lot in getting the final configuration together for each of the nodes in the bramble. They are basically a set of shell scripts that allow you to distribute work to each node in a SIMD fashion. This makes doing the same thing in several places at once much easier.
I'm planning to put this toolkit out for everyone to use, but I have to clear it with my employer, who technically owns everything in my head. Watch this space.
