Friday, November 27, 2009

About that Bundle

What does the U.S. Air Force have in common with kids at the toy store?

They're both in the market for the latest version of the Sony PlayStation 3.

And, while youngsters want them to play video games, the service has another purpose in mind --bundling the consoles to create a massive massive computer cluster, for use in special projects at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Rome, New York.

Obviously, the USAF needs lots of PS3s to create that cluster--2,200 to be exact. So, the service has placed an order for that number of game consoles, at a cost of $650,000. Total cost for the cluster project is about $2 million, according to an AFRL official. Once completed, the bundled PS3s will be used to create virtual models of the human brain, among other projects.

According to Air Force Times, the Rome lab already has a "small" PlayStation cluster in operation, incorporating 336 consoles, linked in fourteen groups of twenty-four. When that first "buy" was announced last year, USAF officials noted that it was cheaper to link PS3s than buy processors designed specifically for the task. By one estimate, the cluster is five times cheaper than the "alternate" processor solution.

But the advantages of the PS3 cluster don't end there. Along with their advanced CPUs, the consoles have a high-end graphics capability, extremely useful in military modeling and simulation work.

While Rome lab deserves credit for their cost-effective solution, there is a down-side to the PS3 approach. With no limits on PS3 exports--and their ready availability on the global market--there's nothing to prevent our adversaries from building their own bundles, for weapons design, employment simulations, or other military functions.

In fact, the U.S. intelligence community began tracking adversary acquisitions of game consoles almost a decade ago, when Saddam Hussein's front companies reportedly purchased 4,000 PlayStation 2s. At the time, there was concern that Saddam's scientists would bundle the PS2s in a configuration similar to that used at Rome Labs. Intelligence analysts believed that Saddam wanted the PlayStations to create a cheap, powerful computer bundle to support his WMD program. However, there is no evidence that the bundle was actually assembled, and some experts believe the game consoles were given away as gifts to Saddam's political cronies.

While the late Iraqi dictator might have missed the "bundling option," it remains available to almost any country willing to invest the time (and money) in a large-scale purchase of PlayStations, and the effort required to link them together. We can only wonder if the Iranians or North Koreans have their own PS3 bundles, providing support for their militaries and/or WMD programs.

5 comments:

tfhr said...

I hope I'm wrong but use of the term "cluster" in this story is telling.

tfhr said...

晴天,

I hear what you're saying but the words are not synched with your lips. More importantly, you should take that to the Daily Kos where "flaccid" rules the day.

Skip said...

This particular genie is never going back in the bottle. Intel's coming out with a line of graphics cards early next year that will consist of 24-32 different CPUs on them giving you roughly 3-4 times the power of that PS3 for about the same price, and designed to be useable in a cluster, unlike the PS3. In 2-3 years this will be commodity hardware, under $100 each.

yet another rice alum said...

one has to hope that the cluster is safe and secure somewhere. building one is just half the problem; they would still need to steal the software.

ck.seoexpert said...

really bit interesting about developing mind while playing but entertainment will always remain the entertainment just we can get is some knowledge from it

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