Jean-Paul, On Fri, Apr 19, 2013 at 2:51 AM, Jean-Paul Van Belle < [email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Steve > > > > When supercomputers are retired, it usually (always?) means that their > running costs (energy costs + maintenance cost) exceed their computational > benefits. > Maintenance usually isn't a big hassle, as malfunctioning clusters are easily swapped out. Power is "free" if you are going to consume it anyway. If you do the calculations, I have a hunch that: > > - It will be more cost-effective for you and better for our > planet were you to install a heat-pump (heats in winter, cools in summer) > and use the monetary savings to buy time on a cluster or spend it on cloud > computing resources whose designers locate and build datacentres to > maximize performance/(cost & energy) ratio. > I have performed these computations. The time it takes for the energy savings to equal the cost of equipment is ~10 years, which is also about the expected lifespan of these systems. In short, they are a break-even proposition here in the Northwest. These systems are better suited for more moderate California winters, as they switch to resistance heat at ~40F. Most people don't realize this. These systems sell because they can also double as an air conditioner, that I don't need. Here, I think the Bedouin have it right - they see air conditioning as being a form of addiction. > - Instead of spending most if not all of your available time > trying to keep your home supercomputer running, > The trick here is that "modern" supercomputers come as gigantic clusters of small processors. If you simply decide not to keep it all running, but instead only keep, say, half of it running, and cannibalize the other half until a better system comes along. Great minds think alike - I have already looked at this. Steve ==================== > *From:* Steve Richfield [mailto:[email protected]] > > *Sent:* 18 April 2013 22:05 > *To:* AGI > *Subject:* Re: [agi] I want an obsolete supercomputer... > > > > Samantha, > > As you are doubtless aware, supercomputers have computational abilities 3 > or more orders of magnitude beyond home computers. > > My son Ed and I have been playing at simulating biologically believable > neural networks for quite a while. However, it is hard to do much of > anything on a home computer, because they are soooo sloooow. Interactivity > - forget it. > > Perhaps you have noticed some of my postings regarding the apparent need > to compute on dP/dt rather than naked probabilities, as being apparently > necessary for temporal learning. This means computing in real time, or at > least slowed down real time. > > All this is leading to needing a computer that is a LOT faster than > "modern" home computers. Whatever we get to heat one of our homes still > won't be enough, but it will be 3 orders of magnitude closer - maybe even > enough to gather some performance stats to help guide future efforts. > > This entire field is heading toward a "hump", as more-than-human computing > power will be necessary to get real-world algorithms running, so they can > be fine tuned to run on 1% of the hardware needed to get over the hump. I > was just looking to explore a foothill. > > Steve > ================= > > On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 12:42 PM, Samantha Atkins <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > > On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 1:41 PM, Steve Richfield < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > So, if anyone hears of an obsolete supercomputer becoming available, > please let me know and/or pass my contact information on to whoever now has > the supercomputer. > > > > > > What would you use it for exactly? Personally I own six computers not > counting phones and tablets and an instance or two in the cloud. I would > be quite proud if I kept those machines busy on something productive beyond > running folding at home or the equivalent. That is I would be quite proud > if I put them to work successfully myself on things I personally care about > a great deal. > > So I am more interested in how to keep machines productively busy than in > having a furnace that also computes. > > - samantha > > > > > > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/10443978-6f4c28ac>| > Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription > > <http://www.listbox.com> > > > > > -- > Full employment can be had with the stoke of a pen. Simply institute a six > hour workday. That will easily create enough new jobs to bring back full > employment. > > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/5404257-22a42d7f>| > Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription > > <http://www.listbox.com> > > > ------------------------------ > UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN > > This e-mail is subject to the UCT ICT policies and e-mail disclaimer > published on our website at > http://www.uct.ac.za/about/policies/emaildisclaimer/ or obtainable from +27 > 21 650 9111. This e-mail is intended only for the person(s) to whom it is > addressed. If the e-mail has reached you in error, please notify the > author. If you are not the intended recipient of the e-mail you may not > use, disclose, copy, redirect or print the content. If this e-mail is not > related to the business of UCT it is sent by the sender in the sender's > individual capacity. > *AGI* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> > <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/10443978-6f4c28ac> | > Modify<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;>Your Subscription > <http://www.listbox.com> > -- Full employment can be had with the stoke of a pen. Simply institute a six hour workday. That will easily create enough new jobs to bring back full employment. ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-f452e424 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-58d57657 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
