FlashMob 2004

Build an instant supercomputer using laptops you may have around the lab!

The FlashMob I (http://www.flashmobcomputing.org/) organizers and the COMP division teamed up at the Fall 2004 National meeting of the American Chemical Society to build an ad-hoc 28-node supercomputer in a day and used it to solve an interesting chemical problem.

A FlashMob is a unique way to assemble a temporary (yes temporary!) supercomputer out of laptops, desktops, and the like that you just have "laying around the house." Unlike computer clusters that are permanently assembled and need highly trained staff for their care and feeding, a FlashMob cluster is assembled by simply rebooting a collection of computers with a special CD to run one problem. When the problem is done, you take out the CD and the notebooks and desktops go back to their mundane, day-to-day existence. For "Chemistry by FlashMob 2004," we created a one-day supercomputer out of 28 ordinary laptops to run a NAMD molecular dynamics problem.

The spores of Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) have been used as a biological weapon against the military and the civilian population. Protection against anthrax infection is a national homeland defense priority. The goal of ÒChemistry by FlashMob 2004Ó was to compute the structural motion and necessary transitions in the sequestration of calmodulin by edema factor (EF) using steered molecular dynamics. Large scale computational resources are required for this project. The challenge was to use the FlashMob event to complete the simulation using NAMD Ð and we succeeded! We ran 50,000 timesteps of the solvated system in about 40 minutes on the ad hoc cluster.

We hauled more than 2 miles of cables into the Pennsylvania Convention Center and started assembling around 8:30 in the morning. By lunch we were up and running with only a few glitches. To bring the event to an end we had a drawing for a "supercomputer in a box".

Sounds like fun? Watch the CCL and the COMP newsletter for updates about the next Chemistry by FlashMob event scheduled for the Washington, DC meeting. Interested in trying it before then? See the full instructions and/or download the code.

Our thanks again to all who made this possible: the laptop volunteers, FlashMob wizard Pat Miller and wizards in training Tim Click and Matt Wampole, Bryn Mawr College Information Services for lending us a most excellent switch, the Division of Computers in Chemistry and above all our thanks to Semichem, Inc. who sponsored the inaugural event.

COMP Chair Prof. Michelle Francl (Bryn Mawr College) and COMP Chair-elect Prof. Andy Holder (University of Missouri, Kansas City/Semichem) consult about the FlashMob.	COMP Chair and FlashMob Wizard Dr. Pat Miller (LLNL/USF) start the big simulation.
Participant Prof. Adrian Roitberg (University of Florida) and FlashMob wizard in training Matt Wampole (Bryn Mawr College) watch the simulation.	A junior volunteer draws the winning "supercomputer in a box". Prof. Carol Parish of Hobart and William Smith was the winner!
Participants set up a miniature FlashMob to compute pi to an arbitrary number of digits.	Whew! It's all over and nearly packed up. COMP chair, FlashMob wizard and wizards in training Tim Click (University of Oklahoma) and Matt Wampole (Bryn Mawr College) relax after packing up the 2 miles of cables used to build the FlashMob.
The full FlashMob "machine" and many of the laptop volunteers.