US Air Force Builds Supercomputer with 1,760 PlayStation 3 Consoles



US Department of Defense engineers and Sony built the most powerful computer in the Department's inventory by linking 1,760 PlayStation 3 gaming consoles:

The supercomputer, nicknamed the Condor Cluster, will allow very fast analysis of large high-resolution imagery -- billions of pixels a minute, taking what used to take several hours down to mere seconds, Barnell said.

Its sophisticated algorithms also will allow scientists to better identify objects flying in space, where movement and distance create blurring, with higher-quality images than possible before.

Its capacity makes the PlayStation 3 cluster about the 33rd largest computer in the world, Barnell said. "It's in that magnitude. "


The supercomputer is currently housed at the US Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York.

Link via Geekosystem | Photo: US Department of Defense

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@Nina
I have a launch model and it is still running like new. But I know people who bought a 360 after me and have went though 5 or more of them with the RROD.
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The array didn't stop working because of the updates that removed Linux. The Air Force is using the PS3s for their computing power, which is built in, not the games, features and menu interfaces that Sony's updates typically address. So the Air Force didn't run the updates, because its PS3s aren't used for gaming or signing in to the PlayStation Network. The problem, though, is that when a machine needs to be replaced, the Air Force will no longer be able to readily get a Linux-capable PS3.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/05/how-removing-ps3-linux-hurts-the-air-force.ars
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I remember reading an article (that I cannot get to because "games" is blocked at my office) that when Sony removed the support for Linux with an upgrade that this was going to render this stack inoperable.
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