A Linux-based "flash mob" supercomputer

San Francisco, March 24, 2004 –   On April 3, 2004 hundreds of computer
enthusiasts will create FlashMob I, the first FlashMob Supercomputer in
the world, and attempt to break into the Top500 Fastest Supercomputers on
earth.  Sponsored by University of San Francisco, FlashMob I will be
created on the University of San Francisco (USF) campus, using USF student
and faculty-designed open-source software.

A FlashMob Supercomputer is created by connecting a virtually infinite
number of computers via a high-speed LAN, to work together as a single
supercomputer. A FlashMob computer, unlike an ordinary cluster, is
temporary and organized ad hoc for the purpose of working on a single
problem.  It uses volunteers and ordinary laptop PC’s, and is designed to
allow anyone to create a supercomputer in a matter of hours.  

"This is a radical new idea in supercomputing, as well as an important
scientific and social experiment,” said John Witchel, graduate student and
co-creator of FlashMob Computing.  “The goal of the FlashMob I project is
to demonstrate the viability of widespread supercomputing.  We hope to
give ordinary citizens the power to explore and address problems that are
most important to them— whether it’s a high-school science class looking
to participate in study of global warming, or a family impacted by breast
cancer, or even a chess club looking to build an electronic grand-master.
In short, we want to democratize supercomputing.”

"FlashMob Computing was effectively invented in the course of a classroom
discussion,” said Pat Miller, USF lecturer and computer scientist at the
Center for Applied Scientific Computing at the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory “A student posited that could break into the Top 500, by simply
inviting people to come together to create a supercomputer for a few
hours.’  

"Today, supercomputers are reserved for issues the government deems
important, primarily defense research,” said Greg Benson, USF Professor.
“We envision a supercomputing landscape where individuals can effectively
‘vote with their laptops’ by volunteering to lend their computers to
causes that are important to them – regardless of governmental interest
and support.   Because FlashMob supercomputers are relatively easy to set
up and its code is so portable, scientists can develop can write programs
that are ‘flashable’, and put out a request for a FlashMob, breaking
science’s long-time dependence traditional supercomputer centers.  Our
ability to harness the power and promise of supercomputing will directly
impact our individual and global well-being and prosperity.”

FlashMob I 
FlashMob I will occur on April 3, 2004, at the University of San Francisco
gym.  Network setup will begin on April 2.  Doors open at 8:00 AM, with
arrival times staggered throughout the morning. Participants will be
assigned a specific arrival time when they register.  As participants
arrive, they will be given a copy of FlashMob I Software which they will
boot from their CD-ROM.  Because the program runs entirely from the
CD-ROM, hard drives will never be touched, safeguarding personal data
security.  Once the PC is connected to the network, it will self-configure
and begin processing requests from a central server.  With the addition of
each volunteer computer, the power of the supercomputer grows.

At 1:00 PM on April 3, USF students and faculty will run LINPACK, a
well-known benchmarking software package.  The last benchmark will be run
at 5:00 PM that same evening.  The best benchmark will be submitted for
inclusion in the Top 500 Supercomputer list. 

Throughout the day, USF will host a series of lectures and round table
discussions, with industry experts from Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, NASA,
NERSC and others, as well as technology exhibitions and an XBox
tournament.

FlashMob I is a modified Linux kernel containing original software that
allows individual PC’s to join a network and operate as a single
supercomputer.  Standard supercomputer libraries such as MPI have been
specially tuned for the unusual nature of a FlashMob and original code has
been written to facilitate bootstrapping PC’s, real-time reporting, on the
fly network and node diagnostics, and ad-hoc performance optimization.
Both the modified Linux kernel and the accompanying software are burned
onto a bootable CD-ROM and duplicated in volume.
In the tradition of Open Source computing, raw data from the experiment
will be made publicly available at www.flashmobcomputing.org, a website
where people can share ideas, tune software, and improve implementation,
to encourage further research in the area of FlashMob Supercomputing, and
to provide a strong baseline of practical experience in preparation for
FlashMob II and FlashMob III.  Additionally, the site will start tracking
FlashMob computers with a Top 500 Flashes list -- separate from the
top500.org list to encourage the exploration of this exciting new area.

># # #

About FlashMob I
On April 3, 2004 hundreds of computer enthusiasts will create FlashMob I,
the first FlashMob computer in the world.  Sponsored by University of San
Francisco, FlashMob I will be created on the USF campus, using USF student
and faculty-designed open-source software.

A FlashMob supercomputer is created by connecting virtually an infinite
number of computers via a high-speed LAN, to work together as a single
supercomputer. A FlashMob computer, is temporary and organized ad hoc for
the purpose of working on a single problem.  It uses volunteers and
ordinary laptop PC’s, and is designed to allow ordinary folks to create a
supercomputer in a matter of hours.  For more information, or to sign up
to participate in this historic event please visit
http://www.flashmobcomputing.org.