This is really neat. OK cluster are not unknown. OSCAR Rocks, MPI, Piranha..there are loads of them. This one was also cool. Here is the official news print.
“Scientific computing is just number crunching, which the PS3s are very good at given the Cell processor and deploying them in a cluster,” Mueller said. “Right now one limitation is the 512 megabyte RAM memory constraint, but it might be possible to retrofit more RAM. We just haven’t cracked the case and explored that option yet.”
Another problem lies in limited speed for double-precision calculations required by scientific applications, but announcements for the next-generation Cell processor address this issue.
“In the computing world there is a list of the top 500 fastest computers,” Mueller said. Currently the fastest is BlueGene/L, a supercomputer with more than 130,000 processors at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The PS3 cluster at NC State does not break into the top 500, but Mueller estimates that with approximately 10,000 PS3 machines anyone could create the fastest computer in the world - albeit with limited single-precision capabilities and networking constraints.
So I went ahead and check his page. Neat stuff there. Here's the rest of the press release BTW.
The Linux Disclaimer from Sony page shows some interesting stuff. The Linux kernel runs on top of the hypervisor. Check it out.
Sony does have its open Platform or PS3 called "Playstation 3 Open Platform". This runs on the hypervisor. Wanna give it a spin. Go to their official page here and download it.
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