Supercomputer built from Playstation 2

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Brujah
    Beer Money Baron
    • Jan 2001
    • 22157

    #1

    Supercomputer built from Playstation 2

    Supercomputer assembled from Sony PlayStation 2.
    http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-1010037.html

    The resulting system, with components purchased at retail prices, cost a little more than $50,000. Researchers at the supercomputing center believe the system may be capable of a half trillion operations a second, well within the definition of supercomputer, although it may not rank among the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.

    Perhaps the most striking aspect of the project, which uses the open-source Linux operating system, is that the only hardware engineering involved was placing 70 of the individual game machines in a rack and plugging them together with a high-speed Hewlett-Packard network switch. The center's scientists bought 100 machines but are holding 30 in reserve, possibly for high-resolution display application.
    -----------------

    Interesting project, running the next Google on racks of PS/2's
  • fnet
    Confirmed User
    • Jul 2002
    • 1721

    #2
    I read somewhere that building a supercomputer is considered an official threat to national security- like building a nuclear weapon.

    I wonder what sort of crap you have to go through to register your beowulf.
    the sound of one hand googlewhacking

    Comment

    • TheFLY
      So Fucking Banned
      • Jan 2001
      • 11856

      #3
      Good to know that IBM is working to be #1 with a petaflop machine

      http://news.com.com/2100-1008-1000421.html?tag=nl

      Comment

      • PowerCum
        CjOverkill
        • Apr 2003
        • 1328

        #4
        Originally posted by fnet
        I read somewhere that building a supercomputer is considered an official threat to national security- like building a nuclear weapon.

        I wonder what sort of crap you have to go through to register your beowulf.
        So you say that my home cluster is against the USA security? LOL... If I knew that I would sell it to the arabs so I would get some $$$.

        CjOverkill Traffic Trading Script
        Free, secure and fast traffic trading script. Get your copy now

        Comment

        • chupacabra
          Confirmed User
          • Sep 2002
          • 3626

          #5
          huh, interesting... i saw something very similar at the '00 Siggraph in New Orleans. in the Silicon graphics (SGI) booth, they had a floor-standing Origin 3500 (Onyx InfiniteReality2) that they had stripped all the graphics options from, and had it tied into a cubed box about 3' x 3' that was packed w/ 16 PS2 motherboards, all running simultaneously... this rig was pumping out a stream of realtime HD graphics (1920x1080, 1080p) all in 3D, not a static render and perfectly fluid... looks to be a similar application. i took some good digital pictures of that setup, i'll try to dig them out to post in this thread..
          ...promise her a defamation, tell her where the rain will fall..

          Comment

          • fnet
            Confirmed User
            • Jul 2002
            • 1721

            #6
            Originally posted by PowerCum


            So you say that my home cluster is against the USA security? LOL... If I knew that I would sell it to the arabs so I would get some $$$.

            Actually, I didn't say that.

            Do you know the definition of a supercomputer by today's standards?

            Seems to me that you can just create one with freely available p2p processing software like greentea. Or a kazaa virus.
            the sound of one hand googlewhacking

            Comment

            Working...