Supercomputing in education is a brand-new game thanks to a cluster of Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles and some creative thinking.
In 2005, when University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth physics professor Guarav Khanna first learned of Sony's plans to release a new open-platform PlayStation device with a high-power microprocessor, or a "Cell Broadband Engine," he had a feeling the new video-game console would hold great promise beyond gaming.
Now, Khanna's suspicions have paid off, as he conducts high-level scientific research on a supercomputer he built with his colleague Glen Volkema late last year, using a cluster of eight PS3 consoles running Linux.
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The name "Hewson" carries a special weight for anyone who grew up during the golden age of British computing. As the son of Andrew Hewson—the man behind legendary publisher Hewson Consultants—Rob Hewson didn't just grow up playing video games; he learned to spell his name from their title screens. However, Rob didn't just rest on his family's 8-bit laurels. From leading major LEGO franchises at TT Games to tackling the high-stakes world of technical porting at Huey Games, Rob has carved out a unique path in an ever-evolving industry. In this candid interview Rob to discussed the burden and beauty of a family legacy, the technical "scar tissue" left by the ambitious Hydrophobia, and why porting a masterpiece like Inscryption to consoles is far more than a simple copy-paste job.
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A cluster of 8 PS3's...this dude really loves him some Rachet and Clank!!!!
They still tout the PS3 to cost Sony $800. That is old now, isn't it?
I think Sony have plans to release proper PCs that use the Cell, so that will probably be more useful when it comes to putting PS3 in the class room.
Plus the whole idea of selling PS3 at a lower price than what it costs to build them is so there are more people to buy games.
While its great that it being used for science, I'm sure Sony would rather scientific institutions paid the full cost of production as they won't be buying any games.
But I'm sure they can come to some understanding.
yeah, the cost production for the Cell has gone why down because they can produce a lot more of them.
Plus because Blueray is doing so well, they can save cost on mass production on that as well.
infact the last reports were the cost of production had falling below the sale price....but then again that could mean another price cut...so who knows.
Wow, haven't seen a joke saying "I does everything exect play game" yet. Damn, maybe the fanboys are dying. :D