China passes US on 'World's Fastest Supercomputer' list (photos)

(Credit: National University of Defense Technology)

Milky Way

The Tianhe-2, also known as the MilkyWay-2, was named the "World's Fastest Supercomputer" by Top500.org, which updates its list biannually. The results are based on Linpack benchmarks, which measure supercomputers by the quadrillions of calculations per second.

China's National University of Defense Technology built the Tianhe-2, and also built the 10th-fastest supercomputer today, the Tianhe-1. That machine topped the world's fastest list in November 2010.

Milky Way-2 will be deployed at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou, China, by the end of the year.

Here are the vital statistics from the Top500.org list of the fastest supercomputers:

Cores: 3,120,000

Linpack performance (Rmax): 33,862.7 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 54,902.4 TFlop/s

Power: 17,808.00kW

Memory: 1,024,000GB

Operating system: Kylin Linux

Cray built the Titan Cray XK7, which lost its title of fastest supercomputer and now resides in second place. It currently lives at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Cores: 560,640

Linpack performance (Rmax): 17,590.0 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 27,112.5 TFlop/s

Power: 8,209.00kW

Memory: 710,144GB

Operating system: Cray Linux Environment

IBM built Sequoia, a BlueGene/Q supercomputer, which is operated by the US government at Livermore, California. Sequoia, another former leader, is now the third-fastest supercomputer.

Cores: 1,572,864

Linpack performance (Rmax): 17,173.2 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 20,132.7 TFlop/s

Power: 7,890.00kW

Memory: 1,572,864GB

Operating system: Linux

Japan's K Compter was built by Fujitsu, and is another former World's Fastest Supercomputer. It's now the fourth fastest.

Cores: 705,024

Linpack performance (Rmax): 10,510.0 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 11,280.4 TFlop/s

Power: 12,659.89kW

Memory: 1,410,048GB

Operating system: Linux

The fifth-fastest supercomputer is IBM's Mira-BlueGene/Q, which is located at the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, and is operated by the DOE.

Cores: 786,432

Linpack performance (Rmax): 8,586.6 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 10,066.3 TFlop/s

Power: 3,945.00kW

Operating system: Linux

Another IBM BlueJean/Q supercomputer computer called JUQUEEN resides in Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany. It's now in seventh place on the list.

Cores: 458,752

Linpack performance (Rmax): 5,008.9 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 5,872.0 TFlop/s

Power: 2,301.00kW

Memory: 458,752GB

Operating system: Linux

Another IBM BlueJean/Q supercomputer is called the Vulcan, and is based in Livermore, California, alongside the third-place Sequoia.

Cores: 393,216

Linpack performance (Rmax): 4,293.3 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 5,033.2 TFlop/s

Power: 1,972.00kW

Memory: 393,216GB

Operating system: Linux

(Credit: National University of Defense Technology)

Tianhe-1

China's National University of Defense Technology built the Tianhe-2, and also built the 10th-fastest supercomputer today, the Tianhe-1. That machine topped the world's fastest list in November, 2010.

Cores: 186,368

Linpack performance (Rmax): 2,566.0 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 4,701.0 TFlop/s

Power: 4,040.00kW

Memory: 229,376GB

Operating system: Linux

The ninth-fastest supercomputer was built by IBM, and is called SuperMUC-iDataPlex DX360M4. It is located in Leibniz Rechenzentrum, Germany.

Cores: 393,216

Linpack performance (Rmax): 4,293.3 TFlop/s

Theoretical peak (Rpeak): 5,033.2 TFlop/s

Power: 1,972.00kW

Memory: 393,216GB

Operating system: Linux

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