Cluster Computing:

CALIFORNIA TECHIES TRY TO MAKE SUPERCOMPUTER

On April 3, FlashMob I, the first FlashMob supercomputer in the world, was created on the University of San Francisco (USF) campus. USF student and faculty-designed open-source software was used to connect hundreds of PCs via a high-speed LAN to work together as a single supercomputer. Industry pioneers, including Foundry Networks, Myricom and HP provided financial and technical support for this historic event. A temporary creation, a FlashMob supercomputer uses volunteers and ordinary PCs to allow ordinary folks to create a supercomputer in a matter of hours. For more information, please visit http://www.flashmobcomputing.org/.

Organizers failed to break into the ranks of the world's top 500 supercomputers as they had hoped, but said the event, which they called "Flashmob I," was a success nonetheless.

"Flashmob is about democratizing supercomputing," said John Witchel, a graduate student at USF who codeveloped the concept. "It's about giving supercomputing power to the people so that we can decide how we want supercomputers to be used."

Supercomputers perform highly sophisticated functions, such as predicting weather patterns, modeling biological processes or animating movies. Most are run by government laboratories or big corporations because they are expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

Saturday's flashmob event was a dry run designed to measure how much computing power could be generated, rather than tackle a specific task.

About 660 volunteers took part, including programmers, self-described "computer geeks," teenagers, college students and researchers. Cables connecting various laptops and desktops were strewn across the gym.

"I just want to be part of history," said Glenn Montano, a USF senior majoring in computer science.

Organizers had hoped to break into the ranks of the world's top 500 supercomputers by generating more than 500 gigaflops of power. A powerful PC can generate about half a gigaflop. The top spot is held by a Japanese computer that generates about 35,000 gigaflops.

Saturday's event managed to generate 180 gigaflops — not enough to make the Top 500 list. Still, organizers said they were pleased.

"This proves that this kind of computing can be competitive with computers that cost tens of millions of dollars," Witchel said.

The term "flashmob" comes from the spontaneous Internet-organized gatherings that gained popularity last year. During the events, hundreds of people suddenly appear at a predetermined location, perform a wacky stunt — such as wearing purple hats or spinning in circles — then quickly disperse, leaving bystanders scratching their heads.

Saturday's event was not the first time citizens have pooled their computing power. For example, the SETI(at)home project has created a virtual supercomputer through Internet-connected PCs to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Organizers hope the Flashmob concept can eventually be applied to problems requiring high-powered computing such as the study of global warming or AIDS research.

In the tradition of Open Source computing, raw data from the experiment is made publicly available at www.flashmobcomputing.org, a website where people can share ideas, tune software, and improve implementation to encourage further research in the area of FlashMob Supercomputing and to provide a strong baseline of practical experience in preparation for FlashMob II and FlashMob III. Additionally, the site will track FlashMob supercomputers with a Top 500 Flashes list -- separate from the top500.org list, to encourage the exploration of this exciting new area.