A PlayStation 3 cluster is a distributed system computer composed primarily of PlayStation 3 video game consoles.
Before and during the console's production lifetime, its powerful IBM Cell CPU attracted interest in using multiple, networked PS3s for affordable high-performance computing.[1]
Deployments
PlayStation 3 clusters have had different configurations. A distributed computing system utilizing PlayStation 3 consoles does not need to meet the strict definition of a computer cluster.
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications had already built a cluster based on the PlayStation 2.[2] Terra Soft Solutions released Yellow Dog Linux for the PlayStation 3,[3] and sold PS3s with it pre-installed,[4] in single units and in 8 and 32 node clusters.[5] RapidMind developed a stream programming package for the PS3.[6]
Decline
On March 28, 2010, Sony announced it would be disabling the PS3's OtherOS feature, with the v3.21 update, due to security concerns.[31] This update would not affect any existing supercomputing clusters, because they are not connected to PlayStation Network and would not be forced to update. However, it would make replacing the individual consoles that compose the clusters very difficult or impossible, because newer models would be shipped with v3.21.[32] This caused the end of the PS3's common use for clustered computing, though projects like "The Condor" were still being created with older PS3 units, and have come online after that update.[33]
See also
- Beowulf cluster
- General-purpose computing on graphics processing units
External links
References
- Building Supercomputer Using Playstation 3 Console Watcher.com, August 28, 2006, retrieved August 28, 2006^
- Scientific Computing on the Sony PlayStation 2 NCSA^
- Terra Soft to Provide Linux for PLAYSTATION 3 Terra Soft^