Truly Off-The -Shelf PCs Make A Top-500 Cluster

SLiDERPiMP writes: "Yahoo! News is reporting that HP created an 'off-the-shelf' supercomputer, using 256 e-pc's (blech!). What they ended up with is the 'I-Cluster,' a Mandrake Linux-powered [Mandrake, baby ;) ] cluster of 225 PCs that has benchmarked its way into the list of the top 500 most powerful computers in the world. Go over there to check out the full article. It's a good read. Should I worry that practically anyone can now build a supercomputer? Speaking of which, anyone wanna loan me $210,000?" Clusters may be old hat nowadays, but the interesting thing about this one is the degreee of customization that HP and France's National Institute for Research in Computer Science did to each machine to make this cluster -- namely, none.

Can you imagine? (obligatory)

[Andorion]

Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these... erm... clusters?

-Berj

What was even cooler...

[UserChrisCanter4]

Was when the HP-powered cluster started assimilating some of the Compaq multi-Alpha machines as it's own.

worry?

[motherhead]

Should I worry that practically anyone can now build a supercomputer?

Yes, you should probably worry that practically anyone can build a supercomputer. But you could mitigate all that fear with the fact that not practically anyone can whip up software that takes full advantage of it.

Thank god there isn't any off the shelf "missile trajectory" software in the CDW catalog. you would hope that any society that can whip together motivated coders to write such code already has access to some pretty spiffy kit.

(yeah i said "kit"... and I'm from Chicago... I feel like such a wanker.)

Hofstadter's Law?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, that's weird. Anonymous Coward posts Anonymous Coward's obit. Hofstadter would have a field day.

-AC 4eva! w00p! 4ll j00r b4s3!

Yahoo! news

[Anonymous Coward]

shouln't that be Yahoo! Serious News now?

Okay, so I'm curious:

[Saint Aardvark]

Sez the cost was $210k US w/o cabling...why the qualification? What *would* cabling for 225-odd boxen cost?

Re:Practically anyone? I think not.

[archen]

think I'd be more worried about someone building a cluster using AMD Athlons, and thus reducing everything for a 500 meter radius into a smoking pile of ash.

Downturn clustering

[Daniel Quinlan]

I guess this is what you do with all of that extra inventory. Clusters coming from Gateway and Dell next.

Notice

[poot_rootbeer]

Anyone who posts a comment containing the word "Beowulf" will be shot.

Including me.

Uh-oh.