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Virginia Tech Upgrade: PowerMac G5 to Xserve G5

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the that-didn't-take-long dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Virginia Tech officially announced that they will be migrating their G5 Supercomputer from PowerMac G5s to Xserves. According to the article, the Xserve G5s will reduce power consumption, heat production and decrease the system size by a factor of three. The pricing of the upgrade is still being determined, and according to Srinidhi Varadarajan, they are working on getting "very good homes" for the PowerMac G5s which will be replaced."

23 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. Very good homes... by peterprior · · Score: 5, Funny

    *looks under desk*.. I'm sure I could find room for, oooh... a couple of hundred..

  2. Good homes? by Dogers · · Score: 5, Funny

    they are working on getting "very good homes" for the PowerMac G5s which will be replaced.

    Can EBay be slashdotted? I guess we'll find out now!

    --
    I am a viral sig. Please copy me and help me spread. Thank you.
  3. jgaynor by jgaynor · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is it like adopt a G5 day down at VT? Is there a background check or can I just pick up my tower and beat it to death once I walk outside with it?

  4. Where do I sign up... by shinma · · Score: 4, Funny

    To adopt one of those adorable little...

    Heh.

    Screw it, just gimme a G5!

    --
    Shinma
  5. drop shipment to redmond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    would be a good home

  6. A friend of mine had a great idea about this by Fortunato_NC · · Score: 5, Funny

    When it was first rumored that VT might replace its G5 boxes with Xserves, a friend of mine shared the idea that the pulled machines should be resold to the public, with some indication that they had been part of the cluster, perhaps a plaque or laser engraving noting that they had been included in the VT supercomputer. I bet those things would be bid up sky-high on eBay!

    --
    Blogging Weight Loss, Distance Education, and more at verlin.com
  7. Re:Upgrade cost by TrentC · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, because having a major hardware manufacturer basically distributing an ad for your university's computing department isn't enough of a perk... :)

    Jay (=

  8. damn them for ruining my joke by SinaSa · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of th-- oh wait. DAMNIT!

    --
    --
    The last digit of pi is four.
  9. Now Accepting orphan G5's by Frightened_Turtle · · Score: 2, Funny

    I would like to let V. Tech know that I am more than willing to accept some of those poor, forgotten G5's into my loving home.

    There, they can spend the day happily puttering away in my new (soon-to-be) G5 cluster, working merrily at finding ways to improve the human condition, advancing understanding of the universal truths, and produce superior pr0n...

    --


    Whew! This water sure is cold!
    1. Re:Now Accepting orphan G5's by spare.dave · · Score: 1, Funny

      jesus christ man

      what exactly are you planning on doing to these poor G5's to produce this "superior pr0n" of yours

      i mean, i like my powerbook and all, but....

  10. Re:a nice incentive by shaitand · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let me take a wild guess, your a VT CS Major who gets A's?

  11. Keep your eye on the ball by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 5, Funny
    But I guess they want a super-computer the football team can be proud of...

    Or a supercomputer that the football team can spell. "G5" is shorter than "Pentium".

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  12. These G5s are too snooty now... by teamhasnoi · · Score: 4, Funny
    I can see it now. The G5s, after getting a college education, pick and choose their new jobs.

    "No offense, but after running thermal dynamics equations, your, how do you call it, 'leet' Photoshops skills are somewhat beneath me. I'm looking for something that will stretch my thinking, not bore me to tears. I don't think I'm right for you. Perhaps a Blueberry iMac would be more your speed. Yes, a beige G3 with 64 megs of ram and os 8.1 should handle your AOL sessions just fine. I'll continue my search. Thanks for your time."

    /me weeps into hands

    1. Re:These G5s are too snooty now... by cubicledrone · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can see it now. The G5s, after getting a college education, pick and choose their new jobs.

      "I'm very sorry, Mr. G5, but your education is simply not relevant to the job you are applying for. It says here you are running Mac OS X 10.2.6, but we need someone with Mac OS X 10.2.5 experience.

      Thanks for stopping by."

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    2. Re:These G5s are too snooty now... by Jon+Abbott · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or better yet, "we need someone with 15 years experience with OS X", even though it's only been out for around 4 now. :^)

      --
      Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
  13. Re:Well duh? by mabhatter654 · · Score: 2, Funny
    That and it's about bragging rights....Duhh! Of course now they have the bragging rights, but suits say the meter is spinning a bit to fast for their wallets...so they'll have to upgrade to reduce costs...wonder if they'll add a few boxen to the farm...gotta keep up bragging rights!

    I mean really, for a community that mothballs GFX 5900's because the 5950s came out...do we have to ask?

  14. Re:So what did they ever compute? by CompVisGuy · · Score: 3, Funny

    They worked out how much it costs to build a top-three supercomputer from commodity parts at very low cost, while simultaneously getting a massive amount of publicity.

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    "The noble art of losing face will one day save the human race"---Hans Blix
  15. Surprising! by Anemomenous+Cowherd · · Score: 2, Funny

    You'd think that someone could have predicted this back when the Big Mac was first being hyped. I just overestimated the longevity by a month. My bad.

  16. 1U units & wiring by JumperCable · · Score: 2, Funny

    The article says the units are 1.75" in height. (Apple says 1U - same thing). That is the same height as the Dell's 1U units (1.67" according to Dell's site).

    More servers in a smaller space has a lot of economic advantages, but have you ever tried to unplug anything in the middle of a rack stacked full of 1U servers? My hands don't fit. It takes about half an hour to finagle something in or out. The real reason our jobs are going over seas isn't because labor is cheaper. It's because they need the small hands of 3rd world children to do cable management.

  17. Re:Has anyone else heard..... by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...how loud the Xserves are compared to the G5's? I can't imagine the decibels in a room full of them

    SORRY -- I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF THE 3RD FASTEST CLUSTER IN THE WORLD.

    Joking aside, who cares how loud it is when its this fast? I'm a very big fan of quiet personal computers, but when designing for raw power, I think I'd actually like it to sound like an earthquake when it runs. It's just more impressive that way.

    --
    If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
  18. From the Apple Store Higher Ed Inst. Purchase... by jpellino · · Score: 4, Funny

    Xserve G5 Cluster Node 2GHz DP/80GB/2xGigE/10Client
    Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5
    512MB DDR400 ECC SDRAM - 2x256
    80GB ADM (1x80GB Serial ATA)
    Mac OS X Server, 10-seat License
    6-8 weeks
    $2,499.00
    Subtotal $2,748,900.00
    Please note that your subtotal does not include sales tax or rebates.
    $2,748,900.00
    Apple Part Number M9215LL/A
    Find out how to get your order for $91,235.99 per month*.

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  19. Just don't give one to this kid by jmichaelg · · Score: 3, Funny

    Unbelievable waste of a nice computer.

  20. Re:Upgrade cost by molafson · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. Build G5 supercomputer.
    2. Get listed on top500.org
    3. ???
    4. Profit!