World's fastest computer?

[alecjw]

I've had a great Idea to make the worlds fastest computer. Once a year, there should be a "world cluster day". There should be a venue (perhaps one in each country) where loads of people can take take their computers, and cluster them all up. Speed tests should be recorded at exactly the same time at each venue. The followind figures should also be recorded:
Total hard disk capacities
Total RAM
Time taken to tar.bz2 about 500GB files (i know the usual test is 500MB, but we can afford to go supersize!)
Total number of comuters (per cluster)
Total number of computers (throughout the world)
% each OS
Total no of cd, floppy, pendrives etc.

If possible, there should be one of those new gigabit broadband connections connecting all of the custers to make a super-cluster!
Users who can't attend but have a fast internet connection should be able to join the cluster using broadband, from the comfort of their own home.

Do you think it would be at all plausible? Or hillariously impossible?

[fuscia]

it would be hard to beat my laptop running openbox.

[Lord Illidan]

For what purpose?? IMHO, we wouldn't beat IBM's supercomputers in performance, nor even come close to them.. If you think that it is all about quantity over quality, or the opposite, you are wrong..it is how fast data gets transmitted. Every cycle the cpu spends waiting for data is a cycle wasted!

[rfruth]

would I win ?

[alecjw]

would I win ?


it would be hard to beat my laptop running openbox.

I think that the fastest computer in the world is about 10TFLOPS