[FreedomCalls]

And even if those messages had to be processed, the very idea ignores the sheer computing processing power that the NSA possesses.

Someone (Bamford?) said that NSA measures their computing power not in number of workstations, but in acres.

[Prime Choice]

Someone (Bamford?) said that NSA measures their computing power not in number of workstations, but in acres.

Bamford knows his stuff, that's for sure. "The Puzzle Palace" ranks as one of my favorite books. Right up there with "Honorable Treachery."

[tortoise]

Someone (Bamford?) said that NSA measures their computing power not in number of workstations, but in acres.

Fast supercomputing systems are small. Memory latency matters A LOT for supercomputing codes of these types, and you can't get good latency at the clock speeds of today when your system is scattered hither and yon. Speed of light and all that.

They may have acres of systems, but they'll probably be racks of conventional systems for the most part, just like any other big data center. For better or worse, consumer grade crap is pretty close to the cutting edge of performance for this type of thing. The AMD64 systems being a glorious example of this.