715 ServerWatch brings us an update on the XServes being used by the COLSA group for their Hypersonic Missle Technology grouip. The Macs are being used as a supercomputer cluster to run missle simulations, and apparently, are more than up to the job:

Earlier, Colsa had experimented with one of the first Apple clusters using 17 Power Mac G4 systems when clusters weren't yet fashionable. When it decided to add supercomputing power to its operations, it tested everything out there including AMD Athlon, Intel Xeon, AMD Opteron, Intel Itanium2, and PowerPC G5. Colsa benchmarked a total of eight systems using its primary production application. This test involved simplified geometry with 2 million grid points and aero-thermodynamics of 12 chemical species in the atmosphere and engine combustion products. One cluster had a reliable processor but high power and heat requirements. Another had a capable but expensive processor that was four or five times more expensive than the G5.

Once Apple servers were selected, the physical installation took about eight days. The organization is now benchmarking the complete Apple supercluster in its production environment.

The article goes on with more cheery information (the cluster is peaking at 25 teraflops), so read on for more on how your iMac beats with the heart... of a killer.

Bill's been using Macs since the late 80s. When he's not making smartass remarks to amuse Kirk Hiner, he enjoys fighting for the user.

Tags: Blogs ï Apple ï

(0) Trackbacks ï

Login † or † Register † †