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Supercomputer As a Service

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-your-own-base-pair-matching dept.

gubm writes "Nearly one and a half years after making a stunning entry into the global supercomputer list with Eka, ranked as the fourth-fastest supercomputer in the world, Computational Research Laboratories (CRL), a Tata Sons' subsidiary, has succeeded in creating a new market for supercomputers — that of offering supercomputing power on rent to enterprises in India. For now, for want of a better word, let us call it 'Supercomputer as a Service.'"

4 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Or by rackserverdeals · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or, we could call it what everyone else is calling it. Grid computing or sometimes cloud computing.

    --
    Dual Opteron < $600
    1. Re:Or by palegray.net · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In my experience, I've met several Indian I.T. staffers who spoke flawless English, although you're right that sometimes the accent got in the way a bit. Unfortunately, I've dealt with far more who were completely unintelligible, and for whom writing comprehensible documentation that would pass a second grade English class is an impossible feat. That second point is more important to me than spoken dialogue.

      It's always been my biggest issue with outsourcing: I don't want to work with people who can't communicate well with others on my team. Nothing against the developers, but they're going to have to change if they want to continue to compete.

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      512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
  2. Um... by FrameRotBlues · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Isn't this how it was done back in the day, with supercomputer time "leased" to companies who needed it?

    My uncle used to work for Minnesota Supercomputer Center and that's how he explained it to me; seemed pretty simple to my 12-year-old mind back then.

  3. Everything old is new again by Aloisius · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Supercomputing as a service is nearly as old as computers are. Granted they were called mainframes.

    Frankly I'm amused at how we seem to be regressing 30 years. I expect any day to see dumb terminals and a prognostication that soon the world will need only a few [cloud] computers.