Australians Look To SkyNet For SKA Telescope

angry tapir writes "Key players behind the Australian-New Zealand joint bid to host the $2.1 billion Square Kilometre Array radio telescope will launch a grid Cloud computing initiative by September with the aim of harvesting the computing and storage power of desktops worldwide."

Comments

you know the drill

[mug funky]

I, for one, welcome our new telescopic overlords.

Re:you know the drill

[Pieroxy]

So... They are reinventing Seti@Home? I guess there is a news here, but where?

Re:you know the drill

[Stuarticus]

Haven't these guys heard of suspend/hibernate, does anyone leave their computer on all the time anymore unless it's actually a server and has something to do? If they do they should really be asking themselves why.

Can we quit the Skynet references?

[syousef]

Can we quit the Skynet references? Please?

We've had distributed computer networks for decades now. We've used them for scientific research for as long as we have had them. "Cloud" computing is just marketing nonsense. Not every distributed network is some global monster that's going to go sentient and send our killer robots. When so many stories mention the Terminator series, we all sound like pathetic geeky children with too much time on our hands and no sense of originality. Doubly so when it's in the title. Is there a new Terminator film or series just out or something?

Re:Can we quit the Skynet references?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, seriously. I mean, in this article we've also got the SKA telescope! That should be ripe with third-wave references!

Re:Can we quit the Skynet references?

[baker_tony]

Yeah, skynet references have jumped the shark...

Re:Can we quit the Skynet references?

[dzfoo]

>> Not every distributed network is some global monster that's going to go sentient and send our killer robots.

That may be true, but the problem is that we can't easily discern which ones will. Therefore, in the interest of Mankind's survival, we distrust them all, "cloud" and "peer-to-peer" alike.

            -dZ.

Re:Can we quit the Skynet references?

[RevWaldo]

Only someone working for Skynet would deny the existence of Skynet. Nice try, comrade.

.

Re:Can we quit the Skynet references?

[zaxus]

No Doubt third wave references will show up. That's the Impression that I Get, anyway...

BOINC

[Arador Aristata]

"harvesting the computing and storage power of desktops worldwide." Oh cool, you mean like BOINC has been doing for ages......

Re:BOINC

[dkf]

Oh cool, you mean like BOINC has been doing for ages......

If they've got any sense, they'll use BOINC as the platform. (Remember, the story's been filtered by know-nothing journalists.)

Re:BOINC

[Push Latency]

If I understand correctly, this project would use Nereus-V instead of BOINC. The former transmits data through a Web browser, where the latter does so using the BOINC client. I can't say more because I don't really see how those are much different at the end of the day, but with Nereus, you connect to projects over HTTP, which they argue is easier for users than launching a pre-configured native client.

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[account_deleted]

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Re:This is fucking Gay

[mug funky]

what's that make me? i'm australian and a /.er

Re:This is fucking Gay

[kiddygrinder]

i think one reverses the other, i'm not sure what the modifier is for being actually gay though.

forget space, where's......

[the simurgh]

i say we stop this space watching crap and get down to whats really important. WHERE THE HELL ARE THE PERSONAL JET PACKS???

Re:forget space, where's......

[dakameleon]

In SPACE. Where we are LOOKING FOR THEM.

Re:FORGET grid computing

[dakameleon]

fondling@home is already available to a wide, wide population... it's what the internet is for, after all.

Not cloud computing

[Zouden]

Come on, get your buzzwords right. Cloud computing is when much of the processing is done on remote servers (the "cloud"). Distributed computing is when the processing is done by ordinary desktops worldwide. That's what this is. The article makes this mistake several times, but it's not entirely their fault. The system is called the "Nereus V Cloud" despite clearly being a distributed computing program.

Re:Not cloud computing

[qc_dk]

I completely agree with you that this buzzword bingo has to stop.
However you seem to also have messed up the terminology a bit. :)

Cloud computing refers to provisioning of resources across the network normally using virtual machines. You retain "full" control of the machine. Cloud computing could be used for distributed computing.

Grid computing is the connection of supercomputers across the world. This involves things like handling access rights, policies, accounting etc.

Parallel computation involves the computation of a problem spread out over several processors.

Distributed computing is like parallel computation, but distributed across several machines. It therefore has to take into account things such as network latencies, machine failures etc.

Volunteer Computing involves harnessing the power of resources donated by the public. This can be a form of distributed computing, but not necessarily. BOINC is a good example of this.

Their project obviously falls into the last category, and has nothing to do with either Grid or Cloud. Their main difference from BOINC is the ability to run directly in the browser. This is hardly a new idea, and I remember projects like this from at least back in 2003. As far as I can see from the documentation, software such as MiG has been able to do all they do and much more since 2005. I'm a bit disappointed that Oxford Uni is not more innovative and get the terminology wrong, but it is the Physics department so let's cut them some slack. :)

Disclaimer: I'm a researcher in distributed computing particularly Grid and Volunteer Computing.

Re:Not cloud computing

[Errol backfiring]

Apart from that, there are no clouds in space.

Re:The Skankaroos

[Anonymous Coward]

$2.1 billion for Ska? That's just Madness.

SKA

[Nigel Stepp]

The telescope was originally going to be called "Save Ferris", but they couldn't work out the acronym.

Im happy..

[philmarcracken]

Since the SKA was going to be built close to my town of Geraldton(300kms is close in aussie terms) we got non-monopoly controlled backhaul fibre at our exchange quicker. Its also going to be part of the FTTH network eventually so two birds with 1 cable.. Not that last mile is going in the ground anytime soon but hey, progress.

SKA telescope?

[Raging Bool]

What complete and utter madness....

Well, it sounds like this SKA telescope....

[RevWaldo]

...is going (sunglasses) one step beyond.

.

Re:FORGET grid computing

[dbIII]

we must make fondling@home available to a wider population

Supposedly it has the only truly intuitive interface.

So then...

[Chris Mattern]

A megalomaniac consortium of robots is going to give Australia a telescope that plays Jamaican music? I'm confused...