[Beowulf] MS Cray

[Alan Louis Scheinine]

It can be viewed as a seasonal machine.
To save energy in winter some institutions lower the
thermostat so that wearing a sweater is necessary.
Lucky is the parallel programmer with a mini-cray under
the desk.

A personal Cray does not simplify life for many people.
I heard someone say that the disadvantage of working as
a private consultant is the time spent being one's own
IT department.  For many people, even in technical fields,
maintaining MS Windows (not to mention Linux) is difficult
or at least annoying.  So even a simplified Cray with MS
Windows at a company would probably not be "personal" but
rather maintained by the IT support.  I welcome comments
from other people as to whether I'm accurate about my sense
of what is typical at company.

The key added value (aside from the Cray nameplate) is
the support for easy installation.  But I remember the
Cray XD1 (acquired from Octiga Bay).  If sales volume
is low the product line might be dropped so the specialized
simplifications provided by Cray may not be useful after
a few years.

Best regards,
Alan Scheinine

-- 

  Alan Scheinine
  5010 Mancuso Lane, Apt. 621
  Baton Rouge, LA 70809

  Email: alscheinine at tuffmail.us
  Office phone: 225 578 0294
  Mobile phone USA:   225 288 4176  [+1 225 288 4176]