PS3 Officially The Fastest (Distributed) Supercomputer Evar
Distributed computing is a geeky pleasure of mine. There is nary a distributed project that I've not been involved in. Seti, Folding@Home, and RC5... I've done them all. My hive processor amorousness aside, Folding@Home managed to pull out a world record all the while trying to cure cancer. Thanks to contributions by the gaming community and owners of the PS3, Folding@Home broke the distributed super computing record on September 23rd, 2007. Hitting a landmark 1 petaflop of computing power, they fingered their way into the Guinness Book of World Records. Folding@home project lead Vijay Pande of Stanford University gushed on the achievement.
To have Folding@home recognized by Guinness World Records as the most powerful distributed computing network ever is a reflection of the extraordinary worldwide participation by gamers and consumers around the world and for that we are very grateful, Without them we would not be able to make the advancements we have made in our studies of several different diseases. But it is clear that none of this would be even remotely possible without the power of PS3, it has increased our research capabilities by leaps and bounds.
Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer Masayuki Chatani continued.
To have PS3 play such a large role in allowing Folding@home to be honored by Guinness World Records is truly incredible, This record is clear evidence of the power of PS3 and the contributions that it is making to the Folding@home network, and more importantly, scientific research.
It's good to see all those wasted console processor cycles going to good use. I would recommend that Microsoft do the same with the 360, except I would be afraid of my house burning down. Red Rings of Death for all!
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 31 October 2007
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: cancer, distributed computing, folding@home, guinness, ps3, supercomputer
Great news. It's nice to hear a gaming console being used for something positive for a change.
And, it's nice to know that while I'm not playing my PS3 (which is an increasingly large amount these days) it's doing something with itself.
I think this is terrific.
On a random note, its very surreal to read Prof. Pande's name on this site. I see the guy on campus like every day, and this is the last thing that comes to mind when I see him. Whacky!
I'm no longer in first place on our team, but that's because I borrow time from Folding@home to watch my blu-ray movies ;)
Glad to help the cause!