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Norway gets its first Xserve G5 cluster

updated 07:35 am EST, Fri February 13, 2004

Norwegian XServe cluster

The University of Bergen in Norway will be home to the first Xserve G5 cluster in that country, according to a (in Norwegian) posted on OfficeLine EDBergen, the Apple reseller that will be providing the four Xserve G5 systems. The cluster will be capable of performing 16 gigaflops per second and will be utilized by the Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology to calculate protein sequences.

by MacNN Staff

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02/13, 07:48am | report spam | close Reply |
4 ?

Pretty stiff competition for Virginia Tech...

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02/13, 07:57am | report spam | close Reply |
4?

When Jim-Bob's Photoshop Shack buys 4 G5's for their employees will Macnn post that too?

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02/13, 08:16am | report spam | close Reply |
This is news

I bought a bagel this morning. I may buy 4 tomorrow
If this is news were in bad shape on the Mac Platform

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02/13, 08:25am | report spam | close Reply |
OK, 4 is not impressive

While 4 XServes may not be an impressive number because the Virginia Tech cluster has thousands, I think that there could be many labs, i.e. thousands, that could use XServes for the same or similar purposes. Think more about this providing a new market than the 4 XServes and the story has more importance. Of course, that point could be made more clearly.

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02/13, 09:06am | report spam | close Reply |
4 Xserves? Whoop-de-do...

"The cluster will be capable of performing 16 gigaflops per second"

That's pretty unimpressive. It sounds like your "four Xserve G5 systems" is basically just 4 Xserves total, because that's all you'd need to hit 16 Gflops/s.

If the article is accurate, this is definitely not newsworthy.

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02/13, 09:09am | report spam | close Reply |
gigaflops per second?

Ummmm... Your basically saying "Billion floating point operations per second per second"

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02/13, 09:10am | report spam | close Reply |
I want a G5

I had to do a double take(?) when I read a total of 4XS....lol @ MacNN ;)

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02/13, 09:11am | report spam | close Reply |
@

That's not a cluster that's a foursome

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02/13, 09:13am | report spam | close Reply |
Wow

"16 gigaflops per second"

Is that like acceleration? "16 billion floating point operations per second per second." That's pretty sweet. At that rate, their cluster will surpass VT in no time.

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02/13, 09:30am | report spam | close Reply |
RIPE

Apple is just RIPE to make a ton of money on this project!

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02/13, 09:48am | report spam | close Reply |
a pedant writes

'to calculate protein sequences'

Come again? To run BLASTp searches or to simulate protein folding? Or is it just plain old structural homology modelling?

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02/13, 09:54am | report spam | close Reply |
What a joke.

n/m

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02/13, 09:55am | report spam | close Reply |
Actually, 16max is wrong

Someone over there doesn't know how to do basic math. *One* Xserve G5 has the potential to do 16 Gflops. 2Ghz * 2FPUs * 2Ops/Cycle * 2Cpus = 16Gflops. So 4 Xserves (assuming 4 duals here) can do up to 64Gflops theoretical.

If it took 4 to do 16Gflops then VT would have needed 4400 PowerMacs - their theoretical is 17.6 Tflops or 16Gflops * 1100 =).

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02/13, 10:09am | report spam | close Reply |
reality

in reality, the 4 machines probably only do 16....lol

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02/13, 10:10am | report spam | close Reply |
4

Apple shares must be soaring.... Buy Buy Buy

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02/13, 10:46am | report spam | close Reply |
Hey, not fair

This is Norway we're talking. 4 XServes give Apple a market share of 33% this quarter, leading to one XServe per 22 people for the entire country. Looks more impressive now, doesn't it.....

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02/13, 11:56am | report spam | close Reply |
Cluster

You want to see a CLUSTER just look at Disney and the Eisner thing. Now there is a Cluster!!!!!

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02/13, 12:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
Interesting Info.

this purchase is just RIPE to spur a 10-15 person Norwegian clusterfuck.

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02/13, 12:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
You guys don't get it

Apple is in a completely different situation in Europe. In Europe Apple machines are much more expensive, than "no name brand" PCs...something Europe has a ton of. This computer (you can even call it cluster) is good news, since some university is looking at buying an Apple computer to do science. Apple is getting better at that, and in microbiology many institues actually prefer Apple computers because of their computing capabilities.

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02/13, 12:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
::rolleyes::

Hey kids, instead of bitching about what MacNN does or doesn't report, why don't you just read the article and move on? What's more of a waste of your time: reading an article that doesn't end up being incredibly interesting or 2) Reading that same article and writing a whiny comment about it?

Personally, I found it rather interesting and I'm glad MacNN wrote it. You guys are just RIPE to re-prioritize your lives.

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02/13, 03:20pm | report spam | close Reply |
how many do you have?

it seems to me that those who knock 'only' 4 xservers are dumbasses..

Q: how many do you have sequencing DNA?
thats what i thought.. shut up and get back to domb..

maybe next week they can add 4 more, and then 4 more and so on..

i started out w/ 2 and now i have 23, 25 if you count the 2 'spares'.. im making so much money on this per month renting out time to 'clients' its scary..

i say go UB!

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02/13, 03:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
RIPE

That's Arginine-Isoleucine-Proline-Glutamate for all you non-biologists out there

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02/13, 04:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
Perspectives...

Seeing as I'm from Bergen, let me break it down for you...

Apple's marketshare in Norway is next to nothing. So ANY news about a university buying Apple hardware is good news...2nd...basic dual processor starts at 38k, NOK...that is roughly 5.5K US $. That's a truckload of money...needless to say...get out of your fsking "compare this to Virginia mode" and take it for what it really is: A chance for the university to test Apple hardware, evaluate it and hopefully purchase more.

-out

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02/13, 05:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
The Ugly Truth!

To all you cynics out there - I'm the guy who first reported this story, and did it for a reason.
The ugly truth is that Apple's slow but steady decline in the educational institutions should be a cause for concern for all of us.
Here at the University of Bergen the students are mostly using Windows and Linux, and Macintosh are seen more as a nuisance than an asset. While there is plenty of support for Windows and Linux, the Mac user is left to fend for him self.
And although the Bergen cluster is nowhere near the capabilities of the "Big Mac", it is a small step in the right direction for students in Norway who uses Macintosh.

And I might add to all you American critics that fins small clusters and small countries nonsignificant, these are the facts: Apple sales is growing outside the US, while it is more or less stagnant in the US, and this despite the fact that we're "subsidizing" YOU, since WE have to pay more for the same Apple products that you're buying. If it weren't for us, you would all be doing Windows by now.

So to all you who found this story trivial and found this cluster "cheap", we would love it if you donated some clusters to our university - or can't you put your money where your mouth is?

The Mac Freak

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02/13, 06:06pm | report spam | close Reply |
My my

Are we touchy in Norway. We're just kidding around; enjoy your mac's
:-)

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02/13, 07:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
@@@

Re:Apple shares must be soaring.... Buy Buy Buy

Day Range 22.83 - 24.10 :) damn right you better buy.

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02/13, 07:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Perspectives...

>> basic dual processor starts at 38k, NOK...that is roughly 5.5K US $. That's a truckload of money...needless to say.

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02/13, 10:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
36 Gigaflops, not 16

Shouldn't that performance number be 36 Gigaflops? Each Xserve performs 9 Gflops, according to Apple, and 9x1100 also adds up to the 10+ Terraflops of the VT cluster.

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02/16, 04:33am | report spam | close Reply |
Any news is good news

Hello,

so you may be complaining that the delivery of 4 G5 Xserves to a University in Norway is not worth mentioning compared to the Virgina Cluster of 1100.
Needless to say for Apple users in Norway ( who pay an extra premium price for their G5s around 5500$ comapred to 3999$ in the US ) this is good news.
Apple needs to do more in the education area here in Europe. I would have kicked some sales person's a** in the Virgina case. Remember ? Apple got to know about this project, when they got the order via the online store... makes you think ?
Much worse is the decline in traditional markets. In Switzerland ( The country in the middle of Europe, that is know for it's Alps, banks and chocolate ) and with an extraordinary high Apple marketshare ( 10% or so ) ALL major publishing compan�es are getting rid of their Macs ( Article in German ):http://www.persoenlich.com/news/show_news.cfm?newsid=37881
That means a lot of Macs are going out of business and when the large companies do it, the smaller will follow. No reason to keep your Mac if you work for someone, who is using Windows.
For Apple, it is time move their a** in Europe. We are still waiting for the first Apple store in Europe, o.k. London will get one, but what about the rest of us ? There are only a very few places, where you get Macs and where you can ask the sales people for help. All the large electronic supermarkets that used to sell macs, made the worst out of it. Outdated Hardware/Software ( if any ). Too expensive and nobody from the sales people did know anything. No advertising of the stuff in their flyers.
Long way to go for Apple in Europe and thanks to people like those in Norway, we still have hope.

Greetings

Thomas

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Norway gets its first Xserve G5 cluster

updated 07:35 am EST, Fri February 13, 2004

Norwegian XServe cluster

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4 ?

4?

This is news

OK, 4 is not impressive

4 Xserves? Whoop-de-do...

gigaflops per second?

I want a G5

@

Wow

RIPE

a pedant writes

What a joke.

Actually, 16max is wrong

reality

4

Hey, not fair

Cluster

Interesting Info.

You guys don't get it

::rolleyes::

how many do you have?

RIPE

Perspectives...

The Ugly Truth!

My my

@@@

re: Perspectives...

36 Gigaflops, not 16

Any news is good news

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