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From: lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Hugh LaMaster)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: ATTACK OF KILLER MICROS
Message-ID: <33798@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 16 Oct 89 20:54:16 GMT
References: <35825@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> <1081@m3.mfci.UUCP> <35896@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
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In article <35896@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV> brooks@maddog.llnl.gov (Eugene Brooks)
writes:

(Another amusing challenge:)

>After all, these little critters mutate and become more voracious every
>6 months and vectorizable code is the only thing left for them to conquer.

(I like the picture of fat computer vendors, or at least fat marketing depts,
hunched together in bunkers hiding from the killer micros.  I have no doubt
that they are planning a software counterattack.  Watch out for a giant MVS
robot built to save the day!  :-)

>No NEW technology needs to be developed, all the micro-chip and memory-chip
>makers need to do is to decide to take over the supercomputer market.
>
>              They will do this with their commodity parts.

The only problem I see with this is the interconnection technology.  The
*rest* of it is, or will soon be, commodity market stuff.

>Supercomputers of the future will be scalable multiprocessors made of many
>hundreds to thousands of commodity microprocessors.

The appropriate interconnection technology for this has not, to my knowledge,
been determined.  Perhaps you might explain how it will be done?  The rest,
I agree, is doable at this point, though some of it is not trivial.

  Hugh LaMaster, m/s 233-9,  UUCP ames!lamaster
  NASA Ames Research Center  ARPA lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov
  Moffett Field, CA 94035     
  Phone:  (415)694-6117