[Beowulf] re: Sun Project "blackbox"

David Mathog mathog at caltech.edu
Wed Oct 18 12:21:52 PDT 2006


On further examination of the pictures it looks like at least some
of the racks are mounted "sideways", to the conventional sense. 
In order to reach the front or back of the rack one must first
slide a combination dolly/jack under the rack and crank the whole
rack up before sliding it out:

  https://photos.sun.com/asset/7606?returnPage=/page/1182

Good luck moving that rack down the hall though - the dolly
wheels are pointing in the wrong direction. I had originally
thought the rack shock mounts were on rails
but apparently not, they just sit flat on the floor:

  https://photos.sun.com/asset/7609?returnPage=/page/1182

I don't know about you folks, but 600A of 208V 3 phase combined
with water cooling, a single exit door, and conducting surfaces
everywhere sounds like it could be lethal, given 6 months of
corrosion in the pipes or a faulty plumbing joint somewhere.

Some of the concept photos are a scream.

I especially like the one of two of these units,
marked with Red Cross symbols, sitting in 
a dusty field in what appears to be a refugee camp while women
walk by with what appear to be _WATER_CONTAINERS_ on their heads.
Ah, lets see, people carry water containers when there is no
running water available.  So the water cooling for these units is
by what, a human chain from the nearest river?  Presumably they
are solar (or gerbil) powered, since there are no power lines in
the photo!  I mean, come on.  Clearly the one shown on Mars is a joke,
but refugee camps aren't all that funny.

Regards,

David Mathog
mathog at caltech.edu
Manager, Sequence Analysis Facility, Biology Division, Caltech



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