So if i get this right, you have one PPC in the mainboard and a 4 cpu node on the pci bus with its own memory subsystem and a kernel running. So you will actually run two instances of the linux kernel and have a 4-way node with no I/O apart from PCI and a 1-way node (the POP board) controlling the system.
So basically what they are saying is that their 4-way PCI cards can be plugged into the PCI bus of the POP board. Hooray they can plug a PCI card into a PCI slot. Woooohaaa!!
I announce that I can make a 5-way PPC box. I know how to plug a PCI card into a PCI bus!!
Anyway the systems will be cool for cluster-friendly applications, as the PCI bus is better than most networks both with respect to latencies and bandwidth (considering that the traffic is passing the PCI bus anyway it IS better).
But then again - networks can be switched, and the length of the PCI buys is limited, so a real network is probably better for many nodes. They should switch the PCI bus, but then they would be making a RS/6000 SP like system (at an astronomical cost)
The concept is cool. But there is nothing new about this. The 4-way boards have been aroud for a while. OK, so maybe the news is that they will be providing Linux software for the board (A PCI interface to BEOWULF would be cool, since some programs exist and a lot of people are working with BEOWULF).
The apple store says "400 Mb/s memory bandwidth for the cheapest system. Sounds crazy to me. Is that sdram at 50 MHz or what????!!!!!!!!!
Also about this crap about the processor being many times faster than other is only valid for applications specifically suited for AltiVec, but o.k. that is good for something. F.ex. memory bandwidth intensive applications will suffer under the 800 Mb/s limitation (i assume the 400 Mb/s is bogus).
I hate to see all those wonderful G3's being molested by evil Mac users. Give us G3 clones with Linux, 4 button wheel mice and nonvirtual standards based 120M floppy drives. I'd love to have a low-cost G3 running at 400MHz with NO FAN. I hate those crappy noisy excuses for computers, low budget consumers are stuck with today. And i don't want all my hardware - monitor, hard drive and everything - moulded into one hideous block of plastic.
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So if i get this right, you have one PPC in the mainboard and a 4 cpu node on the pci bus with its own memory subsystem and a kernel running. So you will actually run two instances of the linux kernel and have a 4-way node with no I/O apart from PCI and a 1-way node (the POP board) controlling the system.
So basically what they are saying is that their 4-way PCI cards can be plugged into the PCI bus of the POP board. Hooray they can plug a PCI card into a PCI slot. Woooohaaa!!
I announce that I can make a 5-way PPC box. I know how to plug a PCI card into a PCI bus!!
Anyway the systems will be cool for cluster-friendly applications, as the PCI bus is better than most networks both with respect to latencies and bandwidth (considering that the traffic is passing the PCI bus anyway it IS better).
But then again - networks can be switched, and the length of the PCI buys is limited, so a real network is probably better for many nodes. They should switch the PCI bus, but then they would be making a RS/6000 SP like system (at an astronomical cost)
The concept is cool. But there is nothing new about this. The 4-way boards have been aroud for a while. OK, so maybe the news is that they will be providing Linux software for the board (A PCI interface to BEOWULF would be cool, since some programs exist and a lot of people are working with BEOWULF).
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May the source be with you...
The apple store says "400 Mb/s memory bandwidth for the cheapest system. Sounds crazy to me. Is that sdram at 50 MHz or what????!!!!!!!!!
Also about this crap about the processor being many times faster than other is only valid for applications specifically suited for AltiVec, but o.k. that is good for something. F.ex. memory bandwidth intensive applications will suffer under the 800 Mb/s limitation (i assume the 400 Mb/s is bogus).
I hate to see all those wonderful G3's being molested by evil Mac users. Give us G3 clones with Linux, 4 button wheel mice and nonvirtual standards based 120M floppy drives. I'd love to have a low-cost G3 running at 400MHz with NO FAN. I hate those crappy noisy excuses for computers, low budget consumers are stuck with today. And i don't want all my hardware - monitor, hard drive and everything - moulded into one hideous block of plastic.