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Supercomputers - Does the Cabling Matter?

Posted by Cliff on from the behold-the-rat's-nest dept.

papaia asks: "Having watched, for a while, the development in the area of high-density server hardware solutions (i.e. blade servers), like IBM's 'top gun', and their increased presence in Data Centers, I have been wondering if anybody has had any experience (thus comments) in regards to how important - in such highly priced solutions - is (or could be) the [always neglected] cabling, connecting the servers. One such comment caught my attention, in this regard. Slashdot, how important is the server cabling infrastructure in your Data Centers, and how do you resolve the cable management aspect of it?"

7 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. sentence (flow) by trs9000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    any experience (thus comments) in regards to how important - in such highly priced solutions - is (or could be) the [always neglected] cabling

    im sure you could fit more parentheses and brackets in there! .....you werent even really trying

    1. Re:sentence (flow) by PerlDudeXL · · Score: 2, Funny

      probably some lisp/scheme side-effects.

    2. Re:sentence (flow) by Bootle · · Score: 2, Funny

      Any sentence where you need to break out Order of Operations, right? God, the Internet has destroyed our communication skills. Kinda ironical....

  2. "Audiophile" cables by pv2b · · Score: 2, Funny

    $500 for a 6 foot audio cable? Your friend prolly got some cheap low-end swill. :-)

    Here's the real good stuff. I wish I weren't making this shit up.

    This previous /. thread has a few other interesting examples, including the one above.

    Me? I just hook everything up using lamp cord.

  3. Re:literally speaking, no by St.+Arbirix · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've seen 10 meg go over a barbed wire fence...

    So that's how you're supposed to handle physical security for your workstation. My new hero.

    --
    Direct away from face when opening.
  4. Re:No by BladeMelbourne · · Score: 2, Funny
    How can I shut down if I can't click on the Start button?

    Windows (TM) Supercomputer Uptime: 23:59:5BSOD!

  5. Re:literally speaking, no by themuffinking · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, yourself.

    It matters how many wires are in the cable. A cable is a mass of wires, and the more wires, the more data can be sent at once. Hence the sucktasticness of phone lines as internet connections with their few measly threads of single wires. Now, a broadband cable line has a whole mess of wires in it. A T1 or T3 line has an unfathomable number of seperate cables twisted upon each other within it. It's not the wire that matters, it's the number of them.