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What Kind of Cloud Computing Project Costs $32M?

Posted by timothy on from the those-investors-should-be-pissed dept.

coondoggie writes "The US Department of Energy said today it will spend $32 million on a project that will deploy a large cloud computing test bed with thousands of Intel Nehalem CPU cores and explore commercial offerings from Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Ultimately, the project, known as Magellan, will look at cloud computing as a cost-effective and energy-efficient way for scientists to accelerate discoveries in a variety of disciplines, including analysis of scientific data sets in biology, climate change and physics, the DOE stated. Magellan will explore whether cloud computing can help meet the overwhelming demand for scientific computing. Although computation is an increasingly important tool for scientific discovery, and DOE operates some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, not all research applications require such massive computing power. The number of scientists who would benefit from mid-range computing far exceeds the amount of available resources, the DEO stated."

12 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. In socialist America by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Hope changes you (and costs 32M)

    1. Re:In socialist America by sofar · · Score: 1, Funny

      The DOE stated.

  2. I assume this doesn't just include the cloud . . . by base3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    . . . but also the rest of the sky including the moon and the stars.

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    One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
  3. oh oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The number of scientists who would benefit from mid-range computing far exceeds the amount of available resources, the DEO stated."

    This sounds like one of those far-fetched statements that more realistically would be answered as "eleventy-billion."

  4. Re:Wrong question. by turtleAJ · · Score: 1, Funny

    What Kind of Cloud Computing Project Costs $32M?

    Obviously, a Beowulf cluster of clouds! Maybe we can call it Hurricane Computing!

  5. Large Magellanic Cloud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Clearly they're trying to create the Large Magellanic Cloud.

  6. Re:Wrong question. by thefear · · Score: 2, Funny

    As with many multi-million research grants, it looks less like valuable research and more like a handout.

    Frankly I`m just suprised that the US government has a whole department dedicated to wasting energy.

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    :(
  7. If they simulate nuclear reactions... by PhilHibbs · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...would that be mushroom cloud computing?

  8. Large Magellanic Cloud by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just call it the Large Magellanic Cloud

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    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  9. Cloud Computing Joke by eric2hill · · Score: 2, Funny

    What's the bright side of cloud computing?

    When the cloud goes down, it's a bright and sunny day.

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    LOAD "SIG",8,1
    LOADING...
    READY.
    RUN
  10. Re:$32,000,000... by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'd my city council spend it on a Cloud Computing Centre.

    And schools to [intentionally left blank] how to use verbs in sentences.

  11. Re:Wrong question. by SnarfQuest · · Score: 4, Funny

    They have to have somewhere to park the black helicopters

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.