[ExI] homebrew cold freon bath super computer

[spike]

... On Behalf Of Eugen Leitl
...

On Fri, Mar 09, 2012 at 09:56:52AM -0800, spike wrote:
>  
> 
>> ...We have a tool at work which is a cold Freon bath. submerge the whole
mess

>...Where do you work now, if it's not a secret?

Lockheeed.  Note that this answer assumes an open-minded definition of the
term "work."  I am not currently doing an engineering task.  But things are
looking up.  I have an interview a week from today, and in my entire career,
I have never had a refusal after interviewing.  Each of my 8 interviews
resulted in an offer, so I am hopeful.  If I don't get eliminated because of
advanced age, I will be back in the saddle soon.

>> in cold freon and BOOM, we have a great poor-man's highly parallel super
computer, ja? spike

>...Fluorinert & Co is *really* expensive. People have been using submersion
in mineral oil, though. As long as you don't use hard drives (SSDs are fine)
mineral oil works well enough, albeit messy...

Ja, mineral oil, even cooking oil would probably do.  It would be an
interesting experiment to try distilled water.  The conductivity is low
enough, I bet it would work as a cooling fluid.  It's clean, green and
practically free.  If that works, I would try tap water.  I might do it just
to see if a phone works underwater.  Has anyone tried it? 

>> ... processor clock speeds suddenly stopped increasing...

>...Purely sequential people are screwed, yes. Notice that multithreaded
people will be equally screwed at sufficiently high core count (no memory
coherency for you), but they yet blissfully unaware...

Screwed only if we depend on continuously increasing computing power.  That
was a most wonderful drug, which was with us our entire lives, but we can
adjust to computers which improve slowly.  Reasoning:  look where we ended
up.  Jaysus!  We hold a supercomputer in the palm of our hand, and we THROW
THE DAMN THING IN THE TRASH when it is three years old!  We HAVE terrific
computers!  Now!  So, we are not screwed if the extended version of Moore's
law peters out on us.  Software continues to improve.

...
 
>>... Processor hipsters, have we had major advances in calculations per
unit energy, or watt?

>...Sure, websearch Koomey's Law.
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Thanks!  Will do.  Is this a great time to be alive or watt?  {8-]

spike