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  • From: Roger Austin <raustin3 AT nc.rr.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] "Big Mac" seeks slimmer carriage
  • Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 14:08:40 -0500

zman wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jan 2004, Jeffrey Gordon wrote:

Actually, these folks are wasting a LOT of money. I am glad I'm not a VT
student or alum being asked to foot the bill.


Actually no they're not. Apple is taking the other machines back. The decrease in power use will save money. And there will also be an increase in performance. So do a little research before you spout off.

Question: Why did they build this machine? Was there some other reason than to build the largest clustered Mac or was there a business reason. I think that Jeffrey could be right if it wasn't used for something of value. I'm sure a ton of resources went into the project whether Apple took the machines back or not. Was this a publicity stunt or did it add value to the world's research? The research needed here is the project
balance sheet and sales data.

Looking at the VT site it notes;
"Virginia Tech will have one of the top ranked supercomputing
facilities in the world, supporting significant 'big science'
research. It is anticipated that Virginia Tech will realize at
least a five to one return on this investment in terms of
annual research grant and contract activity," says Glenda
Scales, assistant dean of computing and distance learning at
Virginia Tech."

I didn't see anything on the site about what work was done on the
systems. Big science projects need big systems, but I don't remember
that SCNC really pushed out much of value other than getting in the
paper a lot. I tried to get people interested in using it, but we had
all kinds of roadblocks. I couldn't find anyone or anything to help get
us started. Suddenly, when the money ran out, people over there wanted
us to use it, but by then you could then do a lot of work with better
software on a couple of linked machines so it wasn't cost effective
to spend money on a supercomputer.

Has this system done anything of value so far other than be really big
and really fast? I'm not against it just for being big, but I would need
a lot more explanation before dismissing whether it is a waste of money
or not. SCNC didn't leave a lot of people saying that North Carolina
should invest in more supercomputing power.





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