Superman's computer won't even be this fast ...
Source: Agencies |
June 18, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A CHINESE supercomputer is the fastest in the world, according to survey results, comfortably overtaking a US machine which now ranks second.
Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China's National University of Defense Technology, achieved processing speeds of 33.86 petaflops (1,000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test, earning it top spot in a survey of supercomputers by Top500.org yesterday.
Its main rival, the US-designed Titan, achieved 17.59 petaflops per second, the survey's website said.
Five of the world's 10 fastest computers are in the US, the survey said, with two in China, two in Germany and one in Japan.
Recognition of Tianhe-2, or Milky Way-2, as the world's fastest computer marks the return of the title to China after the machine's predecessor, the Tianhe-1, was ranked the world's fastest in November 2010, only to be overtaken by a machine from the US.
Unlike some of its Chinese predecessors, most of the Tianhe-2's parts are developed in China, except for its main processors, designed by US firm Intel.
"Most of the features of the system were developed in China ... the interconnect, operating system, front-end processors and software are mainly Chinese," the list's website quoted editor Jack Dongarra as saying.
Costing US$100 million, Tianhe-2 is expected to be operational at the supercomputer center in Guangzhou City in south China's Guangdong Province later this year.
"Ranking is not so important," said Li Nan, spokesman for the Tianhe-2 project.
"We are producing supercomputers with a fundamental purpose of providing a driving force for the construction of an innovation-oriented country and solutions to sciences that concern the future development of human beings."
Experts believe Tianhe-2 demonstrates that China has been developing its own chip technology, which will ensure the country plays an important role in high-performance computing (HPC).
Dongarra said he was impressed with Tianhe-2's interconnect, operating system and software. "The HPC development has enhanced China's competitiveness," he said.
Rajeeb Hazra, Intel's vice president, said the production of Tianhe-2 will not only benefit Chinese sciences and industries, but also provide sound infrastructure for the growing global demand for big data processing.
The university said it would produce a supercomputer performing 100 quadrillion operations per second by 2015 and further raise it by 10 times around 2020.
But the US still dominates the overall supercomputer rankings, with 252 systems making the top 500.
The number of European machines, at 112, remains lower than that of Asian machines, at 119, the list's website said.
The supercomputers on the Top 500 list, which is produced twice a year, are rated based on speed of performance in a benchmark test by experts from Germany and the United States.
Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China's National University of Defense Technology, achieved processing speeds of 33.86 petaflops (1,000 trillion calculations) per second on a benchmarking test, earning it top spot in a survey of supercomputers by Top500.org yesterday.
Its main rival, the US-designed Titan, achieved 17.59 petaflops per second, the survey's website said.
Five of the world's 10 fastest computers are in the US, the survey said, with two in China, two in Germany and one in Japan.
Recognition of Tianhe-2, or Milky Way-2, as the world's fastest computer marks the return of the title to China after the machine's predecessor, the Tianhe-1, was ranked the world's fastest in November 2010, only to be overtaken by a machine from the US.
Unlike some of its Chinese predecessors, most of the Tianhe-2's parts are developed in China, except for its main processors, designed by US firm Intel.
"Most of the features of the system were developed in China ... the interconnect, operating system, front-end processors and software are mainly Chinese," the list's website quoted editor Jack Dongarra as saying.
Costing US$100 million, Tianhe-2 is expected to be operational at the supercomputer center in Guangzhou City in south China's Guangdong Province later this year.
"Ranking is not so important," said Li Nan, spokesman for the Tianhe-2 project.
"We are producing supercomputers with a fundamental purpose of providing a driving force for the construction of an innovation-oriented country and solutions to sciences that concern the future development of human beings."
Experts believe Tianhe-2 demonstrates that China has been developing its own chip technology, which will ensure the country plays an important role in high-performance computing (HPC).
Dongarra said he was impressed with Tianhe-2's interconnect, operating system and software. "The HPC development has enhanced China's competitiveness," he said.
Rajeeb Hazra, Intel's vice president, said the production of Tianhe-2 will not only benefit Chinese sciences and industries, but also provide sound infrastructure for the growing global demand for big data processing.
The university said it would produce a supercomputer performing 100 quadrillion operations per second by 2015 and further raise it by 10 times around 2020.
But the US still dominates the overall supercomputer rankings, with 252 systems making the top 500.
The number of European machines, at 112, remains lower than that of Asian machines, at 119, the list's website said.
The supercomputers on the Top 500 list, which is produced twice a year, are rated based on speed of performance in a benchmark test by experts from Germany and the United States.
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