Vincent Diepeveen wrote: > It's funny that you mention Germany and outdoor supercomputing in 1 > sentence. > > Memories. > > Paderborn februari 1999. > > It feels like yesterday. > > Travelling on the highway towards Paderborn, which is quite both the > center as well as the supercomputing center of Germany, > i fight my way through the thin wet-snow on the German highways towards > Paderborn. A Mercedes passes by, at half its normal > speed of 200KM/h (unlimited speed at German highways). 30 minutes later, > meanwhile i had to slow down to 30 kilometer > an hour at the highway, because of the everything penetrating thin snow, > i pass that Mercedes again. Me on the road, the Mercedes > on the damage lane. > > Finally, after 5 hours of driving over a distance that normally is far > under 2 hours, i arrive at the big cube. > The Siemens-Nixdorf supercomputing center.
I'm assuming this is a Fujitsu-Siemens facility. Lots of VPPs, that sort of stuff? > Trying to get air, meanwhile the snow enters every corner of my face, i > stand in front of the huge complex in front of the first door > and knock on it. It opens. I walk further 2 meters and stand in front of > another door. With a big DANG and a loud CLICK the first door closes > behind me. > Half a minute later, the door in front of me opens. > > The security guard barks as only Germans typically can do to their dog > and uninvited guests: > "Was haben Sie hier zu suchen?" (Why are you here sir?) > > After 15 minutes with the security guard, who spells every letter that > stands in my passport, meanwhile trying to write a novel about it, > i finally get liberated by Rainer Feldmann, who nearly gets saluted by > the guard: "Guten Morgen Herr Doktor". > > Now we walk a funny route in the building. First we go 50 meters to the > right. Then we walk 100 meters to the left, > again 100 meters left. Meanwhile Rainer with a happy face asks me > whether i hear the ear deafening sound, making me nod. > > "That's the water central." > > Then we arrive at the playing hall at which point i start to wonder > whether the route we walked was the most efficient one to get there. You're translating from Dutch? What was the word you were shooting to translate? I'm guessing you wanted a word like control room. > When i ask the by then already bigtime smiling Rainer: "What hardware do > you play at?", i get promptly answer, as if he expected that question: > "We just walked around it!". Didn't you notice the way your fillings hurt, and your watch stopped half-way down the hall. > Entering a room, i shake hands with Ulf Lorenz. Then i walk towards the > window, or whatever they call windows there. > Had the Pentagon been equipped with what they call windows there, > probably the damage would've been less a 2.5 years later! > > Ulf, seeing that i look to the windows says: "Yes it is always 19C in > the entire building. No winter, no summer, always 19C. > It's the only disadvantage of this building, some people get sick of it > here." I guess your point is that really serious computing facilities (hint, hint - send me pictures) are very particular about their climate control. Then again, when your machines are costing $10^7 to purchase, I guess a dedicated, climate controlled building a little easier to swallow. Culturally. MPP machines have always tended to sit on the verge of being cult idols, complete with a caste of high priests, glorious temples, and regular offerings. For me, that's part of the mystique. However, just like a Ferrari, I wouldn't want to own one. A consequence free ride on a quiet road one day would be fine, though. > But all this avoids of course that a Russian expedition army can rob > empty the entire building in a single dark night. > > Vincent > -- Geoffrey D. Jacobs Go to the Chinese Restaurant, Order the Special _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, [email protected] To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
