Top 10 Fastest Supercomputers in the World
Add bookmarkThey control weapons systems and major research programs and have the ability to crunch numbers at unthinkable speeds.
The computer has become one of life’s must-haves, but the world’s supercomputers bear very little relation to even the most advanced domestic desktop.
Supercomputers are comprised of tens of thousands of processors working in conjunction, and these huge machines perform an amazing amount of calculations per second.
Courtesy of a new AIS infographic, here are the world’s top 10 fastest supercomputers.
1: Tianhe-2
Speed: 33.86 petaflop/s
Location: Guangzhou, China
Year Created: 2013
Its No. 1 purpose is to serve as an open research platform for researchers in southern China.
2: Titan
Speed: 17.59 petaflop/s
Location: Tennessee, USA
Year Created: 2012
Titan is used to study alternative and efficient energy, efficient engines, new materials and climate change.
3: IBM Sequoia
Speed: 17.173 petaflop/s
Location: California, USA
Year Created: 2013
Sequoia controls America’s nuclear weapons systems, keeping them secure and ready to launch at anytime.
4: K Computer
Speed: 5.168 petaflop/s
Location: Kobe, Japan
Year Created: 2013
Its main purpose is to research disaster prevention, climate change and meteorology.
5: Mira
Speed: 8.586 petaflop/s
Location: Illinois, USA
Year Created: 2013
The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory uses Mira to study the evolution of the universe, explore climate change and design more efficient electric car batteries.
6: Stampede
Speed: 5.168 petaflop/s
Location: Texas, USA
Year Created: 2013
Stampede works to empower America’s scientists and engineers to interactively share computational resources, data and expertise.
7: JUQUEEN
Speed: 5.008 petaflop/s
Location: Julich, Germany
Year Created: 2012
JUQUEEN is used for computational science, engineering, physics, climatology and materials science.
8: Vulcan
Speed: 4.293 petaflop/s
Location: California, USA
Year Created: 2013
It carries out collaborative work with industry and research universities to advance science and technological innovation.
9: SuperMUC
Speed: 2.897 petaflop/s
Location: Garching, Germany
Year Created: 2012
Housed in the Leibniz Supercomputing Center, SuperMUC works on the following sciences: astrophysics; engineering and energy; chemistry and materials.
10: Tianhe-1A
Speed: 2.566 petaflop/s
Location: Tianjin, China
Year Created: 2010
This supercomputer is used to conduct research in petroleum exploration and solar energy. It also performs aircraft simulation.
Advancements in computing will be discussed at IDGA’s Government IT Reform summit in October. For full details, go to www.GovernmentITreform.com