skuhn

38 ms·

391.
by skuhn 11y ago
Compiling the shaders is a big win, since it allows us to do almost all operations in one pass rather than multiple passes. The service is intended to function on-demand and in real time, so latency matters a lot.
392.
by skuhn 11y ago
This actually came up during the design phase, and it was tempting. However, you'd have to figure out how to connect the boards together, and you'd have to figure out where to put heatsinks and where to direct airflow. Since we we
393.
by skuhn 11y ago
Sorry, just some off-the-cuff math. We use Supermicro FatTwin systems for Linux stuff, and they run a lot of fans at much higher RPMs to maintain proper airflow relative to the Mac Pro design (which runs one fan at pretty low RPMs most of t
394.
by skuhn 11y ago
This is what I found as well, and allude to in other comments in the thread. Particularly when you look at GPGPUs like the NVidia Tesla, they are generally pretty terrible when priced per-gflop because they live in a niche market that wants
395.
by skuhn 11y ago
This is correct, and a huge impetus for our use of Apple hardware. We simply cannot risk our business on saving some money at the expense of violating Apple's EULA.
396.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and I wrote the article) I've alluded to this elsewhere, but the math doesn't add up to your gut reaction. It's cheaper, but not by a significant enough margin relative to the engine
397.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and I wrote the article) I completely agree with your concerns, and I'm constantly evaluating our business for operational risks and inefficiencies. There's a lot of stuff that I can&#x27
398.
by skuhn 11y ago
They're pretty much silent relative to datacenter stuff. One of the goals of the next revision is to have LED power indicators (maybe plugged in to the front USB ports) or LCD panels built into the front of the chassis. Right now you a
399.
by skuhn 11y ago
The Tesla K80 didn't exist when I started this project, but to do some quick math: K80 gflop/s: 8740 2x FirePro D500 gflop/s: 3500 K80 runs about $4900 a card, whereas the entire Mac Pro (list price) is $4000. So it's 2.
400.
by skuhn 11y ago
H-Squared's product isn't terrible by any means, but I see it as phase 1 of at least a 2 or 3 phase solution. If you were running one shelf of Pros in a rack, it wouldn't matter much -- but at 10 racks of 88 Pros each, you&#x
401.
by skuhn 11y ago
Thanks for posting this. This is the second article in the series (although it took forever to finalize). We're also working on a third, which I think will be in the format of an interview with the Mac Pro chassis's designer.
402.
by skuhn 11y ago
We haven't done any in-depth technical articles yet, and there's the worry of giving away our secret sauce, but it is something that I'd like to explore more in the future.
403.
by skuhn 11y ago
Yes, you're absolutely right. We use conventional Linux servers for application, database and storage for exactly this reason. The Mac Pros are a good value for an image rendering machine, but not for general purpose server stuff (in m
404.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and I wrote this article) I had originally intended there to be a totally disassembled chassis with an airflow overlay on top, but it turned into a lot of work. All of the chassis were already asse
405.
by skuhn 11y ago
It was something that I struggled with while writing the article -- you don't want to introduce your solution as "well, this sucks in various ways, but keep reading...". It does boil down to viewing things pragmatically thoug
406.
by skuhn 11y ago
Also true. Apple is not a server company, and they never will be. I try to lean on vendor support as little as possible, because it does me no good to point a finger at a vendor when something goes wrong -- I just want it fixed, even if I h
407.
by skuhn 11y ago
Do the two pictures at the very end, which are a profile and rear view of the rack, convey what you're looking for?
408.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and I wrote this article) I mentioned this elsewhere, but considering alternative solutions was definitely a part of this project. Supermicro's GPGPU chassis was one of them, as well as some o
409.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and I wrote this article) 1. Yeah, the OS X graphics pipeline is at the heart of our desire to use Macs in production. It's also pretty sweet to be able to prototype features in Quartz Compose
410.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and wrote this post) Yep, there are lots of other options out there. I considered at least 4 or 5 off-the-shelf ones before committing to designing and building our own. In Sonnet's case, it i
411.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix, and wrote this post) It is pretty frustrating. We've joked around about how Apple will probably announce a new Xserve at WWDC next month, now that we've done the work to get the Pros happ
412.
by skuhn 11y ago
Going with a Tesla solution would actually be way way more expensive (when bought new). A Tesla K20 is 3520 gflop/s for $2900 (and then you need a server to put it in). The Mac Pro is 3500gflop/s for $4000. The Tesla card does hav
413.
by skuhn 11y ago
You're right, it is entirely about airflow.
414.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix and wrote this article) Nope, it's not ridiculously expensive. The GPUs in the Mac Pro are actually an exceptionally good value per gflop (when I last did a comparison a few months ago). GPUs t
415.
by skuhn 11y ago
This was one of our initial ideas for the design, but it boiled down to an airflow concern. There are some products that do this, such as http://www.h-sq.com/products/mprack/index.html If you look at how the airfl
416.
by skuhn 11y ago
(I'm the datacenter manager at imgix and wrote this post) From a pure hardware perspective, I would love to move this part of the service to Linux systems with GPUs. I spent some time evaluating this before we committed to the Mac Pro
417.
by skuhn 11y ago
It used to be a fair assumption, but now everyone has moved to encrypt any connectivity that goes outside of your physical oversight. Some people are paranoid enough to encrypt cross connects within the same facility that run between cages
418.
by skuhn 11y ago
Data is indeed encrypted on the storage systems (but not on client machines, if that's what you meant).
419.
by skuhn 11y ago
The user data is absolutely not stored in Ireland.
420.
by skuhn 12y ago
It's totally possible to get to 80 general purpose compute servers to a rack, with a power draw of around 15kW. I prefer the Supermicro FatTwin, but there are other options with similar density. It usually isn't worth going to a m

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