PlayStation 3 As Blade Server?

Spitfire engine into a Mini

Posted by Staff
Helios managing director, Dr John Yardley
Helios managing director, Dr John Yardley
The PlayStation 3 has popped up again in a non-gaming role, this time - using the power of the Cell processor and the mighty Yellow Dog Linux - the PS3 has been turned into a media asset management server by a company called Helios.

According to the company, "The reasons for porting Helios to the PS3 are more than simply showing off programming skills of the Helios team. It is of course more usual to have the enterprise software running on much more expensive platforms, such as IBM blade servers or Apple Xserves. But the PS3 is capable of lighter duties, and will be used by the Helios sales team to demonstrate the software to customers. With fully loaded servers running into multiple thousands of pounds, a compact demonstration server for under £500 makes perfect sense.

"The Helios bundle included on the disc image will run for four hours at a time, allowing users to see what Helios can do. Software bundled would cost over £10,000, and getting it to run on a £425 gaming platform is quite a feat. "

Helios managing director, Dr John Yardley said: "It might seem like a crazy idea, but pound for pound the PS3 offers amazing power. I expect plenty of Linux enthusiasts will find good uses for the installation, which includes powerful tools like EtherShare and WebShare. Getting Helios running on the platform is akin to cramming a Spitfire engine into a Mini!"

Get the installer here.
Companies:

Comments

hollywooda 1 Jun 2007 09:40
1/7
I find the PS3 also makes a good paper weight!.....
Joji 1 Jun 2007 10:56
2/7
Another example of the PS3 doing too much. What next? Make my breakfast and make my bed.

Get a grip Sony, It's a bloody games console, not bloody Johnny 5. You lot are loosing focus badly.
more comments below our sponsor's message
FrankenVater 1 Jun 2007 11:00
3/7
Joji wrote:
Get a grip Sony, It's a bloody games console, not bloody Johnny 5. You lot are loosing focus badly.

Except, of course Sony had NOTHING to do with this. You can run Linux on an Xbox, so you could do this on a Xbox too.

THey chose PS3, because it is more powerful, and there software requires power. And you blame Sony. Did you ever consider that you might be bigotted and closed minded?

TimSpong 1 Jun 2007 11:04
4/7
Joji wrote:
Another example of the PS3 doing too much. What next? Make my breakfast and make my bed.

Get a grip Sony, It's a bloody games console, not bloody Johnny 5. You lot are loosing focus badly.


Erm... how is Sony losing focus if another company chooses its hardware?
hollywooda 1 Jun 2007 14:50
5/7
I think i'll be more shocked when you finally get some gaming news about the PS3 rather than "PS3 solves 3rd world hunger!"
vault 13 4 Jun 2007 05:25
6/7
Just another excuse for you guys to Sony bash. You don't see me bashing Microsoft now just because I hate them. Why not root for the damn thing so MS can have some real competition and step their proverbial game, up. Then we'll start seeing some risks and some unique, killer IPs coming to light.
hollywooda 4 Jun 2007 09:31
7/7
Nahh really?.. haha, but come on 8 months & still no really gaming news?....
Posting of new comments is now locked for this page.