Supercomputing cluster-building game attracts crowds
Safe to say Rack-A-Node, the Purdue-developed supercomputing cluster-building game, is a hit at the SuperComputing '08 conference, drawing an international collection of players at the premier gathering for high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis.
Rack-A-Node is a “tower-defense” strategy game that has players build and operate a simulated supercomputer to manage waves of science jobs in fields ranging from climate-modeling and physics to chemistry and pharmacy, said Kyle Bowen, manager of the Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP) informatics team, which created the game.
SC08 visitors can give a console version of Rack-A-Node, which also is available on the Web, a spin at Purdue’s booth and play it on a big-screen monitor at Purdue's Cluster Challenge team table. Players start with a small computer and have to manage a series of jobs successfully to earn funding to buy an even larger machine and advance to subsequent levels of the game.
The booth at the world’s largest high performance computing conference is designed to promote Purdue, Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), the University’s central information technology organization, and the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, ITaP’s research and discovery arm. The conference takes place Nov. 15-21 in Austin, Texas.
The theme of the Purdue booth this year is: “No cycle left behind, no byte left unexplored.” That relates to the creative ways ITaP is finding to improve scientific productivity, said John Campbell, associate vice president for information technology, who heads the Rosen Center. For example, Purdue’s more than 20,000-processor strong Condor pool, a high-throughput distributed computing system that makes use of otherwise idle machines in offices, labs and elsewhere for research purposes, a project set to be highlighted in a colorful animated short film at the conference.
“We will be demonstrating a series of projects that we have implemented or expanded over the past year,” Campbell said.
Among other things, Purdue’s booth also will provide information to potential Purdue students and to job seekers about University academic programs and positions with ITaP and the Rosen Center.
Writer: Greg Kline, (765) 494-8167, gkline@purdue.edu
Photo caption: Marc Noguera from Barcelona, Spain, playing Rack-A-Node at the Purdue Cluster Challenge team table. Cluster Challenge team members Alex Younts and David King are in the background with the SiCortex computer they're using in the competition.
Last updated: Nov. 18, 2008
Rack-A-Node is a “tower-defense” strategy game that has players build and operate a simulated supercomputer to manage waves of science jobs in fields ranging from climate-modeling and physics to chemistry and pharmacy, said Kyle Bowen, manager of the Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP) informatics team, which created the game.
SC08 visitors can give a console version of Rack-A-Node, which also is available on the Web, a spin at Purdue’s booth and play it on a big-screen monitor at Purdue's Cluster Challenge team table. Players start with a small computer and have to manage a series of jobs successfully to earn funding to buy an even larger machine and advance to subsequent levels of the game.
The booth at the world’s largest high performance computing conference is designed to promote Purdue, Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), the University’s central information technology organization, and the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, ITaP’s research and discovery arm. The conference takes place Nov. 15-21 in Austin, Texas.
The theme of the Purdue booth this year is: “No cycle left behind, no byte left unexplored.” That relates to the creative ways ITaP is finding to improve scientific productivity, said John Campbell, associate vice president for information technology, who heads the Rosen Center. For example, Purdue’s more than 20,000-processor strong Condor pool, a high-throughput distributed computing system that makes use of otherwise idle machines in offices, labs and elsewhere for research purposes, a project set to be highlighted in a colorful animated short film at the conference.
“We will be demonstrating a series of projects that we have implemented or expanded over the past year,” Campbell said.
Among other things, Purdue’s booth also will provide information to potential Purdue students and to job seekers about University academic programs and positions with ITaP and the Rosen Center.
Writer: Greg Kline, (765) 494-8167, gkline@purdue.edu
Photo caption: Marc Noguera from Barcelona, Spain, playing Rack-A-Node at the Purdue Cluster Challenge team table. Cluster Challenge team members Alex Younts and David King are in the background with the SiCortex computer they're using in the competition.
Last updated: Nov. 18, 2008
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