[Infowarrior] - USAF orders 2200 Sony PS3s

[Richard Forno]

US Air Force orders 2200 Sony PS3s
Extending supercomputing Linux cluster

By James Sherwood

25th November 2009 13:19 GMT

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/11/25/ps3_supercomputer/

The US Air Force plans to buy a whopping 2200 PlayStation 3 games  
consoles which it will use to expand an existing PS3-based  
supercomputer.

The current cluster of consoles contains 336 PS3s, each connected by  
their RJ45 ports to a common 24-port Gigabit Ethernet hub, Air Force  
online documentation states.

The entire set-up runs on an in-house developed Linux-based OS.

However, the expanded PS3 supercomputer will be used to further the  
Air Force’s “architectural studies” which “determine what software and  
hardware technologies are implemented [in] military systems”.

The Air Force hasn’t said much more than this, preferring to keep its  
intentions close to its medal-bedecked chest. However, it did describe  
one possible scenario where the PS3 supercomputer could be used to  
determine additional software and hardware requirements for advanced  
computing architectures and high-performance embedded computing  
applications.

The PS3 supercomputer has previously been used to test methods of  
processing multiple radar images into higher resolution composite  
images – known as Back Projection Synthetic Aperture Radar Imager  
formation — additional Air Force documents revealed.

It is unclear when then the US Air Force hopes to have its 2536-strong  
PS3 supercomputer up and running. Presumably it's after the squadies  
are done playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. ®