From: smb@research.att.com
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 93 16:55:50 PDT
To: Jim McCoy <mccoy@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Subject: Re: World record in password checking
Message-ID: <9308182351.AA19699@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


	 Perhaps because internal communication between those 1024
	 machines will be significantly more difficult than running on
	 a machine that is optimized for parallel operations, RPC just
	 doesn't cut it.  You would probably lose a number of your
	 hosts off the top just to coordinate the activity of the
	 remaining machines.

But DES-cracking and password-cracking are almost completely decomposable;
no co-ordination is necessary after you've sent the ciphertext string and
the starting point for the search. 

	 Besides, if you really want to do this spend your one or two
	 million (approx cost of your 1000PC site) on seriously
	 dedicated DES-cracking parallel hardware.  Do the cracking in
	 hardware, not software.

Sure -- if you want a machine that does nothing but.

	 Either way, I could think of more fun things to do with those
	 1024 PCs:)

Well, there's been an interesting thread on rec.woodworking about hurling
strange things with medieval siege engines...