SC07, an international conference on high performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis is holding a competition this year called the Cluster Challenge. During SC07 in Reno, teams will assemble, test and tune their machines until the green flag drops on Monday night as the Exhibit Opening Gala is winding down. The race now begins and teams are given data sets for the contest. With CPUs roaring, teams will be off to analyze and optimize the workload to achieve maximum points over the next two days.
In full view of conference attendees, teams will execute the prescribed workload while showing progress and science visualization output on large displays in their areas. As they race to the finish, the team with the most points will earn the checkered flag – presented at the awards ceremony on Thursday.
What I find interesting about this is that they have a power restriction:
Clusters are to be provided by the team and must consist of a single full-height 19” rack. A monitoring power strip will be available into which all components of the cluster must be plugged. A single 30 amp, 110 volt circuit will be provided with a soft cap at 26 amps. Alarms will be sent electronically if power draw exceeds this amount and penalties may be assessed for excess draw.
I wonder if the server of choice will be Sun's with CoolThreads Technology?
So are you up for the challenge? Does the word "grid" give you butterflies in your stomach? If so, go check it out.
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