The Museo de Historia de la Computación in Spain has resurrected the Cray-1 supercomputer, an iconic machine from 1976, by assembling 30 Mac Minis from 2012 to 2014. This ambitious project not only recreates the supercomputer's distinctive C-shaped cabinet but also achieves a computational performance superior to the original.
The museum's exhibit utilizes a total of 70 cores spread across its 30 Mac Minis, comprising five quad-core Intel i7 processors and 25 dual-core Intel i5 processors. These machines run on macOS Mojave, employing the Message Passing Interface protocol to distribute computing tasks among them. During testing, the assembled system reached a performance of 1.5 teraflops. In contrast, the original Cray-1, equipped with a 64-bit, 80 MHz processor and 8.39 MB of memory, had a theoretical peak performance of approximately 160 megaflops.
The replica incorporates a natural convection ventilation system, designed to manage heat without the use of mechanical fans, thereby minimizing operational noise. The primary source of audible sound currently comes from the two gigabit Ethernet switches, which operate at around 30 decibels, though the museum team intends to replace these with silent alternatives. The control terminal for the exhibit features a Raspberry Pi running classic environment emulators and managing a Raspberry Pi cluster, alongside two authentic 2006 Cray CX1 units running CentOS. A Mac Mini within this terminal oversees the distributed computing tasks of the other machines.
This fusion of old and new technology is intended to showcase technological progression. The exhibit is on permanent display at the museum, with plans for expansion. The team aims to crowdfund an additional 80 Mac Minis with the goal of building a modern supercomputer capable of ranking on the Top500 list.