1,716 PlayStation 3s linked together, to power Rome's Air Force research lab!

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Jasku

Jasku

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The Air Force's Research Lab in Rome, NY. has one of the cheapest supercomputers ever made, and best of all over 3,000 of your friends can play Tekken on it. The computer is made from 1,716 PlayStation 3s linked together, and is used to process images from spy planes. From the article: "The Air Force calls the souped-up PlayStations the Condor Supercomputer and says it is among the 40 fastest computers in the world. The Condor went online late last year, and it will likely change the way the Air Force and the Air National Guard watch things on the ground."
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Interesting news indeed, and good use of the powerful PS3 core.

Source Rome Lab's supercomputer is made up of 1,700 off-the-shelf PlayStation 3 gaming consoles | syracuse.com
 
So not JB'ed

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Also.

I presume they will be running some sort of custom code. will sony find that as illegal also?
 
Gannu said:
Ever since Sony removed the 'Other OS' option since firmware 3.21, I wonder what OS do these consoles run on. Or do they still run on firmwares older than 3.21?

Another article on similar grounds but much older - Astrophysicist Replaces Supercomputer with a Cluster of Eight PlayStation 3s

ps3
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Here is the follow up, and it does affect the research now that Sony has pulled back support on 'Other OSs'

When the PlayStation 3 was released in 2006, much was made of the ability to create cheap supercomputers with the help of the Cell processor. However, Sony's decision to remove the "Other OS" feature from the PS3 may have negative consequences for those research projects.

An Air Force Research Laboratory representative expressed frustration over the change, "We will have to continue to use the systems we already have in hand."

However, they said, "This will make it difficult to replace systems that break or fail. The refurbished PS3s also have the problem that when they come back from Sony, they have the firmware (gameOS) and it will not allow Other OS, which seems wrong. We are aware of class-action lawsuits against Sony for taking away this option on systems that use to have it."
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PS3 Firmware Update May Impact Air Force Research, Other Projects
 
Something in related news:

PS3 'OtherOS' Scandal: Sony 1, Customers 0 | techPowerUp

TPU said:
So there you have it, a company can sell you a product and then a considerable time later pull a feature which is a major selling point without penalty, not even having to bother compensating the buyer for it in the smallest way. Nothing. Nada. This gives a very poor experience for the customer and leaves them wondering when the next feature will be pulled, or what other dirty tricks the company will be up to. The only thing left to do in such a situation is for everyone to vote with their wallets and boycott companies that have such nasty business ethics. This doesn’t happen often enough in practice, unfortunately.
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Tbh.. if today a company, say for eg Google/HTC, launches a console which ll be compaitble with ps3 games released till date.. i ll dump the ps3 in the Member's mkt in a second.
 
Think I read this or something similar before. Sony was furious that their subsidised PS3s were being used this way.

Other OS feature was pulled because of the jailbreaking thing right? I always thought that it was another feature that was hype and completely useless.

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