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64 Raspberry Pis + Legos = Supercomputer

By - Source: Liliputing

Computer engineers combine 64 Raspberry Pis and a Lego-built framework to create a DIY supercomputer.

Earlier this year, Raspberry Pi lured the world in with the scent of a $35, linux-powered mini-PC. Since its release, the device has been used for a number of creative purposes. But one team of engineers at the University of Southampton has decided one Raspberry Pi just isn't enough. Instead, the group gathered up a whopping 64 mini-computers and combined them to create one gigantic, super Raspberry Pi.Taking good notice of Moore's Law, the team realized the cost of creating a supercomputer has dropped exponentially over the years, allowing them to create one for as little as £2,500. (approx. $4,000 USD) Combining 64 Raspberry Pi devices, 64 16GB SD cards and a modular framework made of Legos, the team was able to make a system with 11 GHz of processing power and 1TB of memory.

Led by professor Simon Cox, the team has kindly created a detailed guide for anybody looking to create their own Raspberry Pi supercomputer. Head on over to the Southampton page to check it out!

 

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There are 59 Comments.
Top Comments
  • 18
    cscott_it , September 22, 2012 2:12 AM
    Give a man something inexpensive to build upon, and the sky is the limit. Example, the wireless digital camera mod that was in the news a month ago. I like to hear news articles like this one.
  • 23
    azathoth , September 22, 2012 2:13 AM
    11Ghz of single ARM core processing power... Wouldn't exactly consider that a supercomputer. But none the less it sure looks awesome!
  • 20
    alidan , September 22, 2012 2:14 AM
    how many flops? i believe current super computers require 6 ot 9 tflop of double precision.
    even the best of the current consumer cpus onlt puts out less than .2tflop of single,
    and our gpus that can put out 3-4tflops single grind to about 1tflop of double

    so, again, the question is how many flops can this push.
  • 25
    blazorthon , September 22, 2012 2:32 AM
    GHz is not a measure of processing power and doesn't work that way with multiple cores, especially cores that are not only not on the same die or even the same CPU or even on the same board...
  • 16
    anonymous@guest , September 22, 2012 2:36 AM
    >Some kid is sitting on a billion Rpis
    >I still haven't received the ONE I ordered months ago
    I sure hope you guys don't do this.
  • 17
    basketcase87 , September 22, 2012 3:23 AM
    They left out the best part from the University press release:

    Quote:
    ...James Cox (aged 6) who provided specialist support on Lego and system testing.
  • 12
    Johmama , September 22, 2012 4:08 AM
    Whoa, what's with all the negative comments about this? Yeah your home computer is more powerful, yeah you can build a computer with these specs for less, that isn't the point. The point is students and engineers at a university did this, for educational purposes and just for kicks and thrills. Universities always do things like this: things that teach the students involved things, and things that are pretty cool.

    You aren't supposed to appreciate the power, you're supposed to appreciate the fact that these guys put together these little $35 independent computers and linked them all together to work in tandem to make a more powerful computer. I think it's pretty fascinating.
Other Comments
  • 25
    blazorthon , September 22, 2012 2:32 AM
    GHz is not a measure of processing power and doesn't work that way with multiple cores, especially cores that are not only not on the same die or even the same CPU or even on the same board...
  • 23
    azathoth , September 22, 2012 2:13 AM
    11Ghz of single ARM core processing power... Wouldn't exactly consider that a supercomputer. But none the less it sure looks awesome!
  • 20
    alidan , September 22, 2012 2:14 AM
    how many flops? i believe current super computers require 6 ot 9 tflop of double precision.
    even the best of the current consumer cpus onlt puts out less than .2tflop of single,
    and our gpus that can put out 3-4tflops single grind to about 1tflop of double

    so, again, the question is how many flops can this push.
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