Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watrose.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watrose!cdshaw From: cdshaw@watrose.UUCP (Chris Shaw) Newsgroups: net.arch Subject: Re: Re: Caltech's Cosmic Cube Message-ID: <7268@watrose.UUCP> Date: Mon, 11-Feb-85 17:57:54 EST Article-I.D.: watrose.7268 Posted: Mon Feb 11 17:57:54 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 12-Feb-85 04:55:15 EST References: <333@oakhill.UUCP> <21294@lanl.ARPA> Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 47 > While I agree with most of what this original poster said, I think the > following is somewhat in error: > > > Even if the cube > > had an array of 64 8086/8087 pairs its power would only be about one tenth > > that of a CRAY. (Cost wise though, 600 8086/8087 pairs would only run about > > 200 grand - substantially cheaper than the CRAY.) > > > The cost of such a system would be MUCH hihger in order to make back > research costs, pay for the labor that assembles the machine (which > must be a nightmare), as well as the cost of memory (less than several > million words would be inadequate for a machine of such projected power). > A way to interface so many processors to memory efficiently has yet to > be found and would add to the expense of the implementation. Quoted > costs of the Hypercube project itself have ignored labor (they get grad > students and researchers themselves to do it, and their salaries are > figured seperately), they ignore parts (all of which are being donated > for the project), and they ignore sales, distribution, etc. All of which > would be reuired to make a commercial Hypercube feasible. > > J. Giles Oh come on... 64 * $2000 = $128,000 , given a rough guess of the cost of 1 8086/8087 single-board computer with (say) 512 K of memory per board = $2000 The architecture of the Cosmic Cube is such that there is not a common pool of memory, but that each processor has its own memory and sends messages about the computation to other machines. As for labour and parts... the $2000 I mentioned is a price at QUANTITY ONE. ordering (say) multibus boards of the above configuration in 64's would cost you only 1/2 or 2/3 the price due to price breaks. And as for labour costs... Any idiot can plug cards into a card cage (the wiring for which is TRIVIAL by comparison to the 18-inch wire that you have to use with ECL (CRAY)) The real difference between the CosCube and a micro with 64 slots is that the backplane is much more complex, but as I mentioned, not as complex as the labour in wiring a CRAY. So, I submit that a cost of $200-300k per 64-Cube would not be too out to lunch at all, since it's really just 64 copies of an IBM PC !! ( :-) ) Yours 'til the baloney melts... Chris D Shaw