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For many, supercomputing seems like something that’s out of reach. At the most, we’ll usually just contribute our spare processor cycles to a project that involves it. But Purdue University is looking to change all that with their latest venture, Rack-A-Node.
Rack-A-Node is a flash-based game that requires you to become the network admin, and set up each rack so that they hold a solid cluster of servers that are good at tackling a variety of different tasks. From chemistry to physics, it’s all up to you to figure out if you’ll need more CPU power, more RAM or a wicked fast connection.
While the game isn’t meant to actually turn the average man into a supercomputing whiz, it is meant to let us get one step closer to it. “This is a dry and boring topic even for geeks,” claimed Gerry McCartney, the chief information officer at Purdue. “So, we wanted a way to get people excited about these things.”
Evidently they’ve been asked to create a more sophisticated version of the game that would be designed as a learning tool. “It is not stupid right now, but it’s way too simple,” Mr. McCartney said.
Image Credit: Purdue University
Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/asalisbury
[2] http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/supercomputing-the-video-game/
[3] http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/rackanode/
[4] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/intelligent_supercomputers_put_turing_test
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/anton_leapfrog_current_supercomputers_half_a_decade
[6] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/daily_news_brief_meet_britains_fastest_supercomputer
[7] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/flash_games
[8] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/purdue
[9] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/software
[10] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/software_news
[11] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/supercomputer
[12] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/news
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