custom cluster cabinets (was Re: 1U P4 Systems)

[Josip Loncaric]

Bari Ari wrote:
> 
> I did a quick compute of the P4 thermal design and it would be possible
> to put 8 P4s into a 1U if you could use the entire surface area of the
> top of the enclosure as a heat sink [...]

A neat idea.  However, one would also have to justify its cost.

How large would the market be?  Deep pocket customers only?  Then, the
price will be high, and all but the most space constrained users will
flee to cheaper alternatives.  The same reasoning applies to the
discussion concerning 1U vs. commodity cases.

Technical computing users used to be kings of the computing jungle, but
that was decades ago.  A few of them still have deep pockets and the
ability to buy exactly what they want.  The rest are using mass market
leverage to buy compute cycles at a discount.  Unless some day mass
market switches to high density packaging, this feature will continue to
cost extra.

I see the Beowulf concept of using commodity components as a way of
establishing the base price of computing.  I'd be willing to pay more,
but only if this alleviates some critical constraint.  Then, the price
of non-commodity extras (Myrinet, high density packaging, etc.) can be
justified.

Sincerely,
Josip
 
-- 
Dr. Josip Loncaric, Research Fellow               mailto:josip at icase.edu
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