Posted on 12/01/2010 8:33:29 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Almost 2,000 Sony PlayStation game consoles have been networked by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to create an affordable supercomputer that is being used to develop techniques to process and analyze huge quantities of imagery from wide-area surveillance systems.
The Condor Cluster created by AFRL’s Information Division at Rome AFB, N.Y., comprises 1,760 PlayStation 3 consoles and 168 high-performance graphics processors connected by a high-bandwidth network. The cluster has a peak performance of 500 teraflops (trillion floating-point operations per second).
Built for about $2 million, the Condor is the 34th most powerful supercomputer in the world, but it is 15 times more cost-effective than equivalent systems, says Mark Barnell, AFRL’s director of high-power computing. The Condor also consumes a 10th the power of comparable machines, making it the sixth “greenest” supercomputer in the world, he says
(Excerpt) Read more at aviationweek.com ...
[some years ago] They did this with PS2s as well, if I recall correctly.
Just got a PS3 yesterday.
1,759 more to go!
You are correct.
So why arent they in trouble for hacking game consoles like this kid??
http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/52158-feds-attempt-to-silence-xbox-hacker
If I recall correctly, Sony deliberately crippled the PS3 specifically so this would not be possible. Did the AF get special dispensation, or did they find a way around the block?
I don’t know
PS3’s used to allow linux but this is no longer the case with the new Slim models. But when it comes to the DoD, I’m sure Sony was glad to make an exception.
Ping
Oh, man, I have 21, 16 and 14 year-old sons, now I know what they want for Christmas...sigh...
Perhaps “Because we’re the government and the laws don’t apply to us!!”?
[/cynic]
On that note, see also this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2635498/posts
I do think you're right. Maybe the government gave Sony an offer they couldn't refuse . . .It seems that that block could only be a temporary effect in any case; someone is bound to just build a supercomputer directly from the components used the the Playstation, it would seem.
There was an article in this month’s Airman magazine that explained that it was the older version with Linux that was used. Now, if they break the lose that station as they cannot replace it nor will a repaired one work in their array. They specifically said that they were required to use the system according to its license and this version was the only one that worked.
I thought when I read it that it would be great if Americans donated their Linux versions to this group when they upgraded to a new system!
Here is a link to the article in Airman Magazine.
http://www.airmanonline.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123228018
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