MOB rule could be about to create the world鈥檚 first ad hoc supercomputer. This Saturday, a 鈥渇lash mob鈥� of 1000 technology enthusiasts, each armed with a laptop, are due to converge on the University of San Francisco鈥檚 gymnasium.
The laptops will all be running software designed to maximise their speed and merge their processing power and memory over a local area network. Researchers hope the resulting supercomputer, which they are calling FlashMob, will perform a benchmark calculation at a rate of at least 403 gigaflops 鈥� faster than many of the world鈥檚 top 500 listed supercomputers.
Just one machine crashing will end the calculation, but even if FlashMob fails, the project could spawn a new type of supercomputing. Researchers who need to solve tough computational problems, such as modelling weather systems, protein folding or fluid flow, but don鈥檛 have access to an expensive custom-built supercomputer, could ask participants to assemble their own.
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鈥淲e are attempting to popularise supercomputing,鈥� explains John Witchel, the University of San Francisco graduate student running the project. The software has been posted online, so anyone could in theory assemble their own supercomputer mob at any time.