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Warhawk PS3 Server Clusters
News for nerds writes "The official Sony Playstation blog posted the game server details of the upcoming online shooter game Warhawk. Interestingly the game's Ranked Dedicated servers, available in addition to user-hosted PS3 servers, are hosted in rack-mounted PS3 clusters."
"Imagine a Beowulf clust... oh wait."
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
Hmmm, not a bad idea in all honesty, I wonder what the cost trade-off is? Worse case they shut them down and sell the clusters to medical research or power computing.
"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!"
Can anyone not behind a retarded proxy post any specs on why PS3 clusters, besides geek value? I'd be interested in knowing more about heat issue, what type of actual performance, etc. Game consoles are one thing I honestly never expected to see a cluster of done outside of a basement.
An I.T. motto in the hands of an idiot is a dangerous thing...
They had to do something with all the PS3's that no one's buying.
I was wondering how Sony were selling as many PS3s as they are!
... PS2 clusters have been used for calculations by the NCSA. And supooosedly (insert grain of salt) Saddam Hussein was buying up PS2's to get around those pesky export restrictions to build a computing cluster for a weapons program.
But it makes sense. There are a lot of parallels between scientific and game/graphics computing, intense mathematical operations namely. So it would make sense that a processor optimized for gaming would be good for scientific research. Look at the folding at home project, for example.
Well PS3s do have the option to install Linux on them out of the box, my guess is that's what they did. In terms of price, I'm pretty sure to build a machine as powerful as a PS3 would cost more then $500. IBM and Mercury sell Cell Processor server blades, however I can't find a price or specs page. (Didn't really try all that hard.) However need more info about performance to determine if it is a "better" option for servers.
"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!"
No linux on those PS3s. If you read the article, you'll notice that the game ships with a server mode. I'm guessing they just load a modified version of the game that ships (one that skips the graphics and runs in only dedicated mode), and just let it run.
Touche. Teach me to post before reading.
Though the possibility remains for other games. Or even Sony itself to setup dedicated clusters.
"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!"
If they log in we can tag them as foes (and their karma would go down for the constant insults), if they don't we have to rate ACs down to avoid them.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Number one, I couldn't have modded him down and posted in the same article.
Number two, I NEVER ONCE said he was right or wrong. You find where I said he was either right or wrong, or where I support one system more than the other, and I'll clip my balls.
Number three, you cannot sit there and honestly tell me that you think that post was constructed out of someone's own personal opinion unless they are either A. a raving fanboy (which you yourself even spoke against in your own post) or B. are a payed shill.
The AC that posted above me was correct though. Had that very same thing been posted by a logged-in screen name, I would have simply responded to his claims (which, as you have already addressed, are indeed accurate) and treated it as a person's opinion. But seeing a post with that style of formatting and wording posted by an AC...come on.
Living With a Nerd
Thanks Sony Fanbot!
As we all know, the only reason you put up such FUD filled posts all the time is because there aren't any decent games out for the PS3, so you have nothing to do with your time.
Its going to be mighty fun seeing your ass handed to you when sales of the 360 and the Wii go through the roof with Halo 3, Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros come out.
Retard!
You XBOX shills need to calm down and take a breather. This is a great PR move, and this again highlights that the Cell is a great and versatile processor. Yeah, I know this is probably just a PS3 running a PS3 game, but from a PR standpoint, using the PS3 as a server makes it sound like a computer and highlights that it has a neat processor. And frankly, the fact that it has a fast processor is a good reason to own a PS3, even if it doesn't translate into better games (though I'm sure it does). Cool technology is cool to play with. Things like this and folding at home make a difference, and Sony obviously knows that. Remember all the crazy talk about Emotion Engines used for weapons development by Saddam? Yeah, it was silly (though it was also true that Saddam wanted to use them for this for some stupid reason). This story made the playstation seem like an cool piece of technology. This guy is just pointing out his opinion and is modded down because some clown wants to censor him. That's just crazy. You guys are looking like Ron Paul supporters.
On the other hand, you could be right, too. I imagine that the low player counts of GoW and Halo 2/3 are deliberate, and not a technical limitation, and I certainly think that invoking Home makes you a raving fanboy, at least. Home doesn't really have anything to do with gaming, imo.
Either way, he does have some valid points (paying to play my shooters online = icky), and some stupid ones. Hard to say whether he's a fanboy, a shill, or just misguided. Also... clip your balls? o.O
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Replacing the Blu-ray drive with a regular CD (or no drive at all) would make it cheaper to build but wouldn't reduce the end-user cost. Part of the reason Sony can sell the PS3 at a loss is because they see it as an investment in the HD-media war (Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD, iTunes video vs. Sony, etc.).
There are already Cell Based Servers on the market. But, given that you have to ask for a price quote, I expect they cost more than $600 (and don't come with "Motostorm" ;)).
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Warhawk was a great shooter on the C64.
Surely this game represents prior art and the trademark and so on is the property of the company/individual that originally developed it?
Or is Sony pulling a Disney or something?
I thought companies like Sony were supposed to respect copyright.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
Since when do we "know" that Sony subsidizes them? Last I checked, the only people that said that were clueless analysts.
these rumors waaay predate those articles, think before Y2K...
No, I want someone to not be a pussy and show their name. Is that unreasonable?
What's your name?
Please help metamoderate.
I wouldn't be surprised if the shipped game could run as a dedicated server as well. Boot up the disc, do some weird "combo-move" on the controller (so you won't need to plug in a TV), and dedicated server mode starts. Would probably be cheaper than building, testing and publishing two separate releases, no matter how similar they would be.
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Well
While they COULD recompile, etc. they would then have to make sure that the code runs okay on the servers, and that it also runs on the PS3s (if they keep the peer-server feature). Yeah, if it was running on commodity hardware, they might save some (although a PS3 is only $500 retail, so I don't think commodity hardware will save you that much), but there would be an increased expenditure in porting, and maintaining the codebase.
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You're truly a psycho paranoid. I'm sorry, but you really think attacking people as paid shills is effective? Argue with the merits of his claims. I think that shouldn't be hard to do, XBOX live is very popular and that speaks for itself. But dedicated servers, 40 man games, and free access are all cool. Home is probably cool too (not really relevant, but it's free and online and second life is popular with weirdos, so sort of)
Also, some people don't want to bother registering if they don't have to. Sony fans get attacked here, so you have to expect some normal folks to post AC. Certainty Sony isn't above the viral marketing we see from it and its competitors, but I'm sure they could just pay for friendlier articles like Microsoft seems to. Do you really think it's worth Sony's time to come here, where they are hated, and try to convince you to buy a PS3? No, if that's occurring it's on youtube, fark, myspace, etc.
Am I a paid shill or a raving fanboy? No, of course not. Is it possible in your world for someone to be a Sony fan without being raving and evil? I like some of Sony's cool stuff. I like Nintendo's recent console for it's ingenuity, and I like how Sony has made a system that is quite versatile. The XBOX isn't too appealing to me, though it's obviously very appealing to many, and I wouldn't say that someone who claims to love it is a paid shill.
What's with this "shill" word, by the way. It's used so frequently by the anti-Sony contigent. Is that supposed to be irritating? It makes you look uncreative and easy to mentally filter as a wacko. Anyway, the PS3 is superior in many ways to the XBOX (and also inferior). IF you have nothing to say when someone points out why the Sony is his preference beyond accusing him of being paid or raving, then you are admitting you have no real argument. And frankly you don't. There is no reason for anyone to contend that Sony's online experience is not a better value than XBOX's expensive and limited version. Sony has idiot marketing and a terrible attitude, but on this issue they seem to have the better argument.
::sigh:: once again, find somewhere in my post where I said he was wrong.
You won't, because he isn't. I own every console/handheld Sony has released, just like I own every Microsoft console (all two of them, lol) just like I own every Nintendo console/handheld (yes, even a virtual boy)
Once again, look at the way his post was worded, formatted, and constructed. You cannot sit there and tell me that was an everday joe-blow kind of post unless, once again, it was either A. a payed shill or B. a raving fanboy.
Just like no one talks lawyer-speak that you see on a contract in every day conversation, no one rails a product so entirely without acknowledging a single positive thing about it (once again) unless they are a shill or a fanboy.
In either case, It doesn't even matter. I never agreed nor disagreed with the guy (or gal, as it were) I simply commented on how every time someone on here speaks that way with that formatting about one company or another, it is ALWAYS posted by an AC. I think that's bullshit.
'Scuse me for wanting someone to have the balls to take credit for their "own" words.
Living With a Nerd