- Jan 7, 2002
- 12,755
- 3
- 0
PIC here
Bid for on the spot supercomputer
An attempt to produce a supercomputer by wiring together hundreds of desktops and laptops has fallen short.
The aim was to see if PCs could be used to generate the power of supercomputers at a fraction of the cost.
But a network created by researchers and students at the University of San Francisco failed to make it into the ranks of the world's 500 fastest computers.
Despite the setback, the organisers of the event declared it a success.
"This proves that this kind of computing can be competitive with computers that cost tens of millions of dollars," said graduate student John Witchel.
Gigaflop hurdle
Supercomputers are used to tackle complex problems, such as modelling biological process and their cost can run into $100m.
The world's fastest computer is the Earth Simulator, created by NEC in Yokohama, Japan, dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity.
The organisers of Saturday's event in San Francisco had hoped to produce about 500 gigaflops of power, the equivalent of 500 billion sums per second.
In the end the 600 volunteers who took part in the experiment only managed to generate 180 gigaflops by hooking up hundreds of desktops and laptops.
The failure to make it into the list of the world's top 500 supercomputers did not dishearten the organisers of the experiment, dubbed Flashmob 1.
"Flashmob is about democratising supercomputing," said Mr Witchel. "It's about giving supercomputing power to the people so that we can decide how we want supercomputers to be used."
The term flashmob is used to describe spontaneous crowds summoned up via the internet to take part in a form of performance art.
Last year, the University of Virginia built one of the world's fastest supercomputers by wiring together 1,100 Apple G5 computers.
----------------
Hundreds Of PCs Linked To Make Supercomputer
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of self-declared computer geeks in San Francisco are connecting their laptops and desktops together to build an instant supercomputer. They linked the computers together on a gymnasium floor Saturday.
Supercomputers are able to solve incredibly complex problems such as predicting the weather or simulating how our bodies work. That doesn't come cheaply -- so most supercomputers are run by government labs or big corporations that can afford them.
But researchers at the University of San Francisco say they want to give the general public more access to such tools. That's why they're linking hundreds of normal personal computers to one another -- hoping they can generate the same power as a single supercomputer.
Text
Bid for on the spot supercomputer
An attempt to produce a supercomputer by wiring together hundreds of desktops and laptops has fallen short.
The aim was to see if PCs could be used to generate the power of supercomputers at a fraction of the cost.
But a network created by researchers and students at the University of San Francisco failed to make it into the ranks of the world's 500 fastest computers.
Despite the setback, the organisers of the event declared it a success.
"This proves that this kind of computing can be competitive with computers that cost tens of millions of dollars," said graduate student John Witchel.
Gigaflop hurdle
Supercomputers are used to tackle complex problems, such as modelling biological process and their cost can run into $100m.
The world's fastest computer is the Earth Simulator, created by NEC in Yokohama, Japan, dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity.
The organisers of Saturday's event in San Francisco had hoped to produce about 500 gigaflops of power, the equivalent of 500 billion sums per second.
In the end the 600 volunteers who took part in the experiment only managed to generate 180 gigaflops by hooking up hundreds of desktops and laptops.
The failure to make it into the list of the world's top 500 supercomputers did not dishearten the organisers of the experiment, dubbed Flashmob 1.
"Flashmob is about democratising supercomputing," said Mr Witchel. "It's about giving supercomputing power to the people so that we can decide how we want supercomputers to be used."
The term flashmob is used to describe spontaneous crowds summoned up via the internet to take part in a form of performance art.
Last year, the University of Virginia built one of the world's fastest supercomputers by wiring together 1,100 Apple G5 computers.
----------------
Hundreds Of PCs Linked To Make Supercomputer
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of self-declared computer geeks in San Francisco are connecting their laptops and desktops together to build an instant supercomputer. They linked the computers together on a gymnasium floor Saturday.
Supercomputers are able to solve incredibly complex problems such as predicting the weather or simulating how our bodies work. That doesn't come cheaply -- so most supercomputers are run by government labs or big corporations that can afford them.
But researchers at the University of San Francisco say they want to give the general public more access to such tools. That's why they're linking hundreds of normal personal computers to one another -- hoping they can generate the same power as a single supercomputer.
Text
Facebook
Twitter