Supercomputer built from Playstation 2 - GoFuckYourself.com

Brujah · 05-27-2003, 08:26 AM

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 · 05-27-2003, 10:36 AM

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.

TheFLY · 05-27-2003, 10:47 AM

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

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

PowerCum · 05-27-2003, 10:56 AM

Quote:

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 $$$.

chupacabra · 05-27-2003, 11:21 AM

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..

fnet · 05-27-2003, 11:24 AM

Quote:

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.

05-27-2003, 08:26 AM	#1
Brujah Beer Money Baron Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: brujah / gmail Posts: 22,157	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 __________________ Free Premium Domain Lists and Tools at Clickmojo.com For Sale: Obscenity.com

05-27-2003, 10:36 AM	#2
fnet Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,721	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.

05-27-2003, 10:47 AM	#3
TheFLY So Fucking Banned Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: http://www.thefly.net/ --- Quit your job and live off steady traffic. Posts: 11,856	Good to know that IBM is working to be #1 with a petaflop machine http://news.com.com/2100-1008-1000421.html?tag=nl

05-27-2003, 11:21 AM	#5
chupacabra Confirmed User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 3,626	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..