Clondike stands for CLuster Of Non-Dedicated Interoperating KErnels.
The initial goal of the Clondike project was to design a new type of cluster of Linux machines. It should be capable of utilizing standard Linux machines as its computational units, while still maintaining the illusion of a powerful single system image (SSI). The unique feature of the Clondike system is its ability to integrate the workstations even if they are not fully dedicated to the system, they could still be used and administered by their users/admins and offer their computing power to the cluster only when they become idle.
Currently, the Clondike system is being extended into a full peer-to-peer operating system level cluster. In the new version, each participating user can form his own virtual cluster and use the other workstations’ computing power for his own calculations. The P2P architecture of the system makes the system fault-tolerant, since there is no single point of failure, all machines are fully autonomous. In addition, the new architecture is more attractive for users, because now they do not only contribute computing power of their machines, but they can also use computing power of the other Clondike machines for their own computations.
Since every computer in the Clondike system forms its own administrative domain, the Clondike system goes beyond boundaries of traditional clustering systems. It is similar to the architecture of a P2P-based grid system.
You can download a VMDK image the Clondike and run a virtual machine.
Full details about the build process can be found in the Clondike install instructions.