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Gateway launches grid computing service The service harnesses the power of the 8,000 computers sitting in Gateway stores
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2002 15:22:58 -0500
Gateway launches grid computing service The service harnesses the power of the 8,000 computers sitting in Gateway stores ------------------------------------------------------------------------ posted 1:03pm EST Tue Dec 10 2002 - submitted by Rob Hughes http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2002Dec/gee20021210017704.htm NEWS Gateway has teamed up with United Devices and is now offering up for sale the combined power of the 8,000 computers in Gateway's over 270 locations. The 8,000 PC grid can operate at more than 14 TFLOPs. That processing power is comparable to the second fastest supercomputer in the world today, as noted on the Top 500 Supercomputer list. The only supercomputer to offer more power is the infamous Earth Simulator in Japan, which can clock in 35.61 teraflops doing certain operations. The next nearest supercomputer rates at just 7.23 teraflops. The Gateway Processing On Demand (POD) service runs United Devices' Alliance MetaProcessor platform. Alliance MetaProcessor is a platform standard designed to allow easy use of computing cycles across a widely dispersed grid. Potential clients of the POD service can submit job requests online, get real-time status updates, and receive results when their jobs are done. Read more at the press release posted on Yahoo! and Gateway's POD site. ROB'S OPINION This is a really neat idea, but I can imagine one potential problem. I am assuming that all computers at the various Gateway stores will be running some kind of client software from United Devices that will enable them to take part in the distributed computing. All of those PCs will have to be connected somehow or other to the Internet, or at least to the LAN which is then connected to the Internet. I'm not sure if that was a requirement for Gateway's computers previously. If a customer wants to try out a Gateway PC, what happens if it's in the middle of an intense computation ordered by someone through the Gateway POD service? Unless the service is designed to halt work upon any interaction and only resume after some time of inactivity, customers may feel that Gateway computers are "slow," and perhaps undeservedly so. The other downsides would be the increased amount of power and AC use in all the Gateway stores, as they will have to leave all the machines on 24x7. On the plus side, this is a very neat service to offer, it will surely get Gateway a lot of PR, and it's a good use of otherwise wasted computing power. I'm not sure how big the market is for a 14 TFLOP computer service, or how much companies are willing to pay for such services. Can Gateway make a few million dollars with this service in a year? If so, it may be worthwhile. Who's next? Circuit City, BestBuy, CompUSA, Apple, Sears? We could see a host of competing retailers jump into this fray if Gateway is successful. Maybe tech sites like Geek.com would even have volunteer readers get together to build a massive computing on demand resource--but not targeted specifically at some of the current distributed computing projects. There's a lot of interesting possibilities, and most of them point to stiff competition for Gateway if its endeavor becomes a success. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To unsubscribe or update your address, click http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Gateway launches grid computing service The service harnesses the power of the 8,000 computers sitting in Gateway stores Dave Farber (Dec 15)