When the Celera Genomics institute decided that mapping the human genome would be a good idea, it realised that analysing the 3,2 billion base pairs that make up all the genes and related DNA (at last an acronym that has nothing to do with the IT industry) of the genome, would take some serious computing power.
In evaluating contenders to supply the muscle to crunch these serious numbers, the institute found Compaq to be some 10 times faster than its nearest rival - hence the solution comprises of Compaq AlphaServer systems running Tru64 Unix and TruCluster software.
The figures for the machine processing and storing the staggering amount of data will have any keen gamer drooling with desire: a system comprising of a total of 700 interconnected Alpha 64-bit processors, capable of 1,3 trillion floating point operations per second is hooked to a Compaq StorageWorks system managing a whopping 50 terabytes of data.
Celera director J Craig Venter throws all those specifications into perspective when he observes: "What once took 10 years can now be done in 15 seconds due to advanced technology and computers."
The price tag for this behemoth is rather impressive, too: Celera`s bill with Compaq came to some $40 million.
Now that`s enough to put off even the most serious power freaks.
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