Super computers have been around for a long time. But unless you've got a couple million dollars in your pocket, you're SOL (Simply Out of Luck).
Or are you?
A recent trend in super computing is to link multiple, off-the-shelf computers into a cluster and use free software to pool all available resources and make it act as one big computer. Of course, they usually come out looking like a lexan delivery truck that got into a wreck with a motherboard delivery van. But for the researcher on a budget, it's the cheapest way to go.
The Challenge:
To design a sleek looking setup that can fit on your desk without taking up the whole surface using a router.
There is one caveat; Gigabit ethernet is slow.
I know, I know; it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. 1000 bits a second, it slices, it dices, and leaves the competition in the dust. To think of improving on the perfection that is this technological Eigth Wonder of the World is MADNESS!
But there is something better; USB 3.0. It has a max capacity of 5 GB/s before overhead, and 3.4 after over head. It costs much less than gigabit ethernet cables. And I believe if you could combine the MAC addressing system of gigabit ethernet with the bandwidth of USB 3.0 and engineer a USB Router-Switch to link up multiple motherboards, then the end-result would be a 3.4 times faster than ethernet, maybe more because you might be able to decrease the overhead that the USB 3.0 bridge would need to run multiple devices. What this means is that one motherboard could talk to another, sharing information at transfer rates that are as high if not higher than components on an individual motherboard could (such as the bus that handles CPU and RAM transfers). Which would translate to more FLOPS a second. Which would mean more bang for the buck on a researchers already anorexic budget. Not only that, but a device like this could potentially take the place of gigabit ethernet routers in the home.
There are a couple small-form factor motherboards on the market incorporating USB 3.0 into them, and as the demand for USB 3.0 increases, more are bound to hit the market. There is a site or two dedicated to the building of small-scale super-computer clusters, and if you want information regarding this build, feel free to contact me. A great way to increase the flexibility of this system is by dispensing with simple "hubs" that can run fewer than 3 devices at once and convert them into full-fledged switches.
That is my build challenge, Mr. Heck; design a MAC addressing system for a USB 3.0 hub, plug it into an incredibly compact multi-motherboard super-computing, Crysis playing network cluster, complete with all the fancy doo-dads, knick-knacks, and thing-a-ma-bobs that make computers awesome. It requires more knowledge than the lowly intro-level engineering student that I am possesses to accomplish, or otherwise, we would be having a very different discussion in a forum labeled "Show off your build." I think that this build, should you choose to accept it, could fill a vital role in the market, both the niche market of super-computer cluster building as well as the commercial one of home-router systems and make USB an even more useful technology than it already is.
And maybe, just maybe, my children would grow up in a world where they could play Crysis on max settings for under $1200.
