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General Hardware General hardware related questions. |
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They don't appear to be offering anything that you probably couldn't locate locally in "Southern Finland".
Looks like they're just offering rackmount cases with off the shelf hardware.. what's so special? EDIT: The inclusion of NVidia GPU hardware is an instant sign to avoid them without a second thought. EDIT2: So it would seem the NVidia hardware is what classifies this these systems as personal super computers, but it seems very likely that it's proprietary and requires using kernel blobs.. if that doesn't bother you, go for it. Last edited by BSDfan666; 25th August 2009 at 06:15 PM. |
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those machines are not silver bullet - that is, there are build for specific task. that task may eat a lot of cpu but less memory and little need to speak to other nodes over the network. it can be memory hungry and average use of cpu.. and so on and so on. to build/bуy such thing as super computer first you had to have problem to solve and you have to be fluent on that problem on paper. that is complete understanding of the problem to be solve and later build calculating unit to solve this problem. you can use nvidia;s cuda for massive parallel calculations - of course it has it's own limitations. you can build cluster from of the shelf hardware, with 100/1000mbit network. or go wit blade server and inifiband switch.so.. get to now math - it's sound pathetic but you need it to solve any problem you have. then make yourself competent enough in computer hardware - there is more than one architecture - i386 or AMD64 and take right decision about your super computer architecture. get to know programming - c/c++, fortran .. etc.. languages.
aaaaaaaaaaaand in the end - formulate your problem, and take appropriate approach in solving it, at lower as possible cost for you as money and time.
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agrr slow typing...bsdfan was first
why's that?
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I've explained why in my second EDIT, but it is a simple preference.. and I also happen to use OpenBSD.
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Quote:
Just look at the cost per megaflop 20 years ago. |
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I would suggest buying a nice high end workstation or gaming system with all the newest top of the line stuff since money is no object. That way you have a machine that can last 10 or more years.
I did this five years ago and have not had a need to even look at upgrading or replacing my workstation. Which kind of sucks since I don't have an excuse to buy a new machine.
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If you have to ask the question, then the answer is probably "no".
If you had started with "Problem xyz is typically done on this type of supercomputer, & I really want to learn about this...", then the answer might be "maybe". As with other responders in this thread, get something current. Computers are tools & commodities. Most people trade-sell-buy a new computer every ~five years. After you have bought your supercomputer & your friends are tired of hearing, "Hey, I bought me a supercomputer!", what will you do then? If you do end up buying a supercomputer, please take care of it & keep it maintained. Once you tire of it, please donate it to a museum where it can be used for educating the public. A number of computer museums restore hardware if they have multiple copies, & make them available online for educational purposes. You can help teach the next generation learn from innovations made in the past. |
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If money is not a problem then it is absolutely fine to go for the Supercomputer but if you think that you are going to use that computer for 20 Years then I would say you should not invest your money thinking of so long especially in the ever changing world of technology.
Regards |
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After the nine months of consideration
I have now considered the upcoming "super computer" for nine months. I can admit that usability of 20 years was rather exaggerated. Now I expect usability for between from 8 to 14 years. "High-end workstation" could be better definition for this computer than "super computer". I'am not anymore planning for purchasing my workstation from overseas when I can purchase it from my location (Southern Finland) althought there's only one retailer.
This is my selection: Supermicro SuperWorkstation 7046A-T motherboard: Supermicro X8DAi maximum RAM: 192 Gb maximum amount of CPU's: 2 My configuration: - One Intel Xeon 5680 (6-core 3.33GHz) processor (second CPU is planned to buy later) - 4 Gb's of random access memory (will be expanded later to 16 Gb) - One 2 Tb and one 750 Gb SATA hard disk drive - PCI-E display adapter, video memory something between 512 Mb's and 2 Gb's - Writing DVD/CD drive with LightScribe support Operating System: primary: 64-bit BSD - NetBSD/amd64 - PC-BSD or DesktopBSD amd64 port secondary (yet unclear): 32-bit Windows XP or 64-bit Linux - Windows XP Professional with SP3 (only for some commercial games) - GNU/Linux (used if display adapter problems or if UMTS/3G Internet access requires) Price: something between 3000 and 4000 euros |
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What will you use that box for?
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@Turquoise88
IMHO You would do much more better with Quad Core Intel Nehalem (8 threads), 2 x Intel SSDs for RAID1 for / filesystem and next 9-12 VelociRaptor HDDs for RAID50 for ZFS storage, and another 2 Intel SSDs for L2ARC, along with 16-32GB RAM. But personally, I think that You just got too much cash and do not know how to spread it ;p
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I don't have any money, can you give me some money?
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Or if you're in the mood to spend a ton of money on hardware, check this out:
www.openbsd.org/want.html |
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