QEP Great Book Discussion Question Assignment
CSC 100, Fall 2015
Mikel Andrews
Answer only Ten out of the thirteen questions below.
1. What is the purpose for putting 9216 Pentium Pro processors together in a machine
called Janus?
• –It’s a problem solver. It recruits a few percent of the CPU’s on the net and
would gain you more raw power than any supercomputer on Earth.
2. How can a general user access the machine Janus?
• The 9216 Pentiums can be found at a single room in the Sandia National
Laboratory in Albuquerque.
3. What is the most attractive aspect about collective computing? Explain your answer.
• It relies entirely on resources that would otherwise go to waste. It is done with
spare CPU cycles on idling machines. The things that go to waste may not be as
attractive to you but to recycle it or reuse it is important.
