IP: re National Science Foundation to Fund Supercomputer

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 12:30:52 -0500
> From: gep2 () terabites com
> Subject: IP: National Science Foundation to Fund Supercomputer
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> X-Mailer: SPRY Mail Version: 04.00.06.17
>
> I note the particularly telling "of its kind" exemption in the article.  :-)
>
> Clearly that's to prevent someone bringing up (didn't work! ;-) ) the SETI
> grid... a novel and apparently hugely successful collection of computers that
> probably already exceeds (and ultimately COULD exceed by probably many 
> orders of
> magnitude) the capacities of the proposed DTF...
>
> For those not familiar with it... the voluntary SETI project installs a
> "screen-saver" on the computer of participating user's computers.  The
> screen-saver activates when the computer isn't otherwise attended 
> (lunchtimes,
> during meetings, while a home user is sleeping, etc).  The screensaver 
> goes and
> gets a batch of raw radiotelescope data from the SETI project's "host"
> computers, and then does some kind of highly CPU-intensive crunching of that
> data (probably including a lot of Fourier transforms and pattern matching, I
> suppose) in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.  When the batch is
> done, results are sent back to SETI's computers and the screensaver fetches
> another batch of data to work on.  Meanwhile, the "screensaver" also 
> provides a
> fairly fascinating display on the monitor... so in fact it DOES make a good
> screen-saver, too, for those who believe in the need for such things.  The 
> SETI
> screensaver also doesn't significantly interfere with the other applications
> that the machine might be running (say, periodically waking up and going to
> empty a remote ISP-provided E-mail Inbox or something).
>
> Although I know people who haven't joined SETI yet (myself among them!  I
> probably need to change that, though) I do know others who have... 
> including at
> some of my clients where they run SETI software after-hours on their office
> systems.
>
> I think that this approach has ENORMOUS potential for running
> monumentally-sized, easily partitioned data crunching applications.  The main
> concern of many, probably, is to know that they agree with the purpose of the
> effort... I'll bet that many would deny use of their computers for (e.g.) 
> these
> Big-Brother-ish surveillance-camera face-matching efforts, or perhaps
> military-oriented projects.
>
> But for projects which appeal to people on a wide scale, certainly this SETI
> approach represents (probably BY FAR!) the largest amount of "free" grid-able
> computing power available anywhere.
>
> <---- Begin Forwarded Message ---->
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-tech-supercomput.html
>
> > National Science Foundation to Fund Supercomputer
> >
> > SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The National Science Foundation said it will
> > spend $53 million to build a massive computing grid that will be the most
> > powerful of its kind ever completed and could lead to ground-breaking
> > research that would have otherwise taken years, if not decades, to complete.
> >
> > Called the Distributed Terascale Facility, or DTF, it will be used by four
> > U.S. research centers for research in areas including molecular modeling
> > for detecting diseases, cures and drug discovery, research on alternative
> > energy sources, climate and atmospheric simulations, among others.
>
> <----  End Forwarded Message  ---->
>
> Gordon Peterson                  http://personal.terabites.com/
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