<s>
The	O
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
(	O
"	O
Zest	O
to	O
go	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
rackmount	B-Application
server	O
platform	O
built	O
by	O
Sony	O
,	O
targeted	O
for	O
the	O
video	O
post-production	O
and	O
broadcast	B-Operating_System
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
platform	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
Sony	O
's	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
as	O
it	O
features	O
both	O
the	O
Cell	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
RSX	B-Device
'	I-Device
Reality	I-Device
Synthesizer	I-Device
 '	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
aimed	O
to	O
greatly	O
speed	O
up	O
postproduction	O
work	O
(	O
in	O
particular	O
in	O
the	O
computationally	O
extremely	O
taxing	O
4K	B-General_Concept
resolution	I-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
3D	O
rendering	O
and	O
video	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
respects	O
it	O
is	O
rather	O
similar	O
to	O
IBM	O
's	O
QS20/21/22	O
blades	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
Roadrunner	B-General_Concept
supercomputer	I-General_Concept
that	O
took	O
the	O
top	O
spot	O
in	O
the	O
Top500	B-Operating_System
in	O
May	O
2008	O
)	O
,	O
although	O
Sony	O
seems	O
to	O
target	O
the	O
DCC	O
(	O
Digital	O
Content	O
Creation	O
)	O
markets	O
rather	O
than	O
scientific	O
like	O
IBM	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
by	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
the	O
RSX	O
graphics	O
processor	O
in	O
the	O
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
runs	O
Fixstars	O
's	O
Yellow	B-General_Concept
Dog	I-General_Concept
Enterprise	I-General_Concept
Linux	I-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
was	O
also	O
Sony	O
's	O
favourite	O
Linux	O
distribution	O
for	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
architecture	O
is	O
not	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
difference	O
is	O
that	O
the	O
BCU-100	O
has	O
1	O
GB	O
XDR	O
RAM	B-Architecture
instead	O
of	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
's	O
256	O
MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Video	O
RAM	B-Architecture
is	O
missing	O
in	O
Sony	O
's	O
system	O
diagrams	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
is	O
listed	O
as	O
256	O
MB	O
(	O
like	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
)	O
further	O
down	O
in	O
the	O
tech	O
specs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sony	O
uses	O
the	O
SCC	O
(	O
Super	O
Companion	O
Chip	O
)	O
to	O
handle	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
tasks	O
(	O
HDD	B-Device
,	O
USB	O
2.0	O
,	O
Gigabit	O
Ethernet	O
and	O
other	O
unspecified	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
)	O
;	O
the	O
SCC	O
has	O
its	O
own	O
dedicated	O
memory	O
of	O
1GB	O
DDR2	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
Memory	O
Extension	O
Adapter	O
connected	O
via	O
PCI	O
Express	O
that	O
can	O
hold	O
up	O
to	O
8	O
GB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
option	O
for	O
the	O
single	O
PCI	O
express	O
slot	O
is	O
a	O
Video	O
Display	O
Board	O
with	O
a	O
DVI-I	B-Protocol
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
,	O
the	O
Cell	O
in	O
the	O
BCU-100	O
offers	O
the	O
full	O
8	O
SPUs	O
that	O
Cell	O
is	O
manufactured	O
with	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
the	O
6	O
SPUs	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
,	O
which	O
has	O
one	O
SPU	O
disabled	O
to	O
improve	O
manufacturing	O
yields	O
and	O
one	O
reserved	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sony	O
presented	O
its	O
first	O
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
product	O
,	O
the	O
BCU-100	O
,	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
at	O
SIGGRAPH	O
2008	O
in	O
mid-August	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sony	O
plans	O
to	O
ship	O
the	O
BCU-100	O
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
2008	O
and	O
deliver	O
it	O
with	O
the	O
Mental	B-Application
Ray	I-Application
raytracer	O
by	O
Mental	O
Images	O
to	O
speed	O
up	O
3D	O
rendering	O
tasks	O
and	O
Houdini	B-Application
Batch	O
by	O
Side	O
Effects	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
claims	O
to	O
be	O
in	O
talk	O
with	O
other	O
software	O
makers	O
in	O
the	O
DCC	O
field	O
to	O
port	O
and	O
optimize	O
their	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
is	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
workstation	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
2	I-Device
architecture	O
called	O
the	O
GScube	B-Device
,	O
which	O
was	O
also	O
shown	O
at	O
Siggraph	O
in	O
the	O
year	O
2000	O
,	O
and	O
which	O
,	O
although	O
used	O
for	O
visualization	B-Application
in	O
a	O
few	O
movie	O
projects	O
,	O
ultimately	O
failed	O
in	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
GScube	B-Device
only	O
targeted	O
realtime	O
visualization	B-Application
in	O
1080p	O
HD	O
,	O
ZEGOs	O
target	O
markets	O
are	O
much	O
broader	O
,	O
encompassing	O
for	O
example	O
physics	B-Algorithm
simulation	I-Algorithm
,	O
final	O
3D	O
rendering	O
and	O
video	O
processing	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
visualization	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
remains	O
to	O
be	O
seen	O
if	O
ZEGO	B-General_Concept
actually	O
manages	O
what	O
the	O
GScube	B-Device
was	O
unable	O
to	O
do	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
worth	O
noting	O
that	O
the	O
massively	O
parallel	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
GScube	B-Device
,	O
being	O
not	O
much	O
more	O
than	O
16	O
Graphics	O
Synthesizer	O
chips	O
with	O
dedicated	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
inspired	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
Cell	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
itself	O
with	O
its	O
8	O
SPUs	O
with	O
dedicated	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Searches	O
on	O
Sony.com	O
and	O
pro.sony.com	O
for	O
either	O
Zego	B-General_Concept
or	O
BCU-100	O
return	O
nothing	O
but	O
the	O
year-old	O
press	O
release	O
claiming	O
the	O
product	O
would	O
ship	O
within	O
a	O
few	O
months	O
.	O
</s>
