Supercomputer

A supercomputer is a type of <a href="/facts/Computer/SQe1aK05">computer</a> with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in <a href="/facts/Floating-point/eIckahxe">floating-point</a> operations per second (<a href="/facts/FLOPS/6zYlH68F">FLOPS</a>) instead of <a href="/facts/Million_instructions_per_second/N23PAFGV">million instructions per second</a> (MIPS). Since 2022, supercomputers have existed which can perform over 1018 FLOPS, so called <a href="/facts/Exascale_computing/HEb6YV2v">exascale supercomputers</a>. For comparison, a desktop computer has performance in the range of hundreds of gigaFLOPS (1011) to tens of teraFLOPS (1013). Since November 2017, all of the <a href="/facts/TOP500/rz8zbyss">world's fastest 500 supercomputers</a> run on <a href="/facts/Linux/9FvCKSTq">Linux</a>-based operating systems. Additional research is being conducted in the United States, the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a>, Taiwan, Japan, and China to build faster, more powerful and technologically superior exascale supercomputers.
Supercomputers play an important role in the field of <a href="/facts/Computational_science/PnVD19hw">computational science</a>, and are used for a wide range of computationally intensive tasks in various fields, including <a href="/facts/Quantum_mechanics/BRc3Mzgr">quantum mechanics</a>, <a href="/facts/Weather_forecasting/nzqyMFCa">weather forecasting</a>, <a href="/facts/Climate_research/bYS7FktY">climate research</a>, <a href="/facts/Oil_and_gas_exploration/E9ehW41n">oil and gas exploration</a>, <a href="/facts/Computational_chemistry/KyuCgRV3">molecular modeling</a> (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological <a href="/facts/Macromolecules/039ULSLg">macromolecules</a>, polymers, and crystals), and physical simulations (such as simulations of the early moments of the universe, airplane and spacecraft <a href="/facts/Aerodynamics/Cn6Lnl3H">aerodynamics</a>, the detonation of <a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapons/QVdBcMdm">nuclear weapons</a>, and <a href="/facts/Nuclear_fusion/hP0gLDqj">nuclear fusion</a>). They have been essential in the field of <a href="/facts/Cryptanalysis/7CPEQlJI">cryptanalysis</a>.
Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s, and for several decades the fastest was made by <a href="/facts/Seymour_Cray/uDpXUsXc">Seymour Cray</a> at <a href="/facts/Control_Data_Corporation/ChfGgfPM">Control Data Corporation</a> (CDC), <a href="/facts/Cray_Research/coAlupuy">Cray Research</a> and subsequent companies bearing his name or monogram. The first such machines were highly tuned conventional designs that ran more quickly than their more general-purpose contemporaries. Through the decade, increasing amounts of <a href="/facts/Parallel_computing/nQzcpzQt">parallelism</a> were added, with one to four <a href="/facts/Central_processing_unit/Jxp1bqMV">processors</a> being typical. In the 1970s, <a href="/facts/Vector_processor/nYAsIKT0">vector processors</a> operating on large arrays of data came to dominate. A notable example is the highly successful <a href="/facts/Cray-1/4afuzp0D">Cray-1</a> of 1976. Vector computers remained the dominant design into the 1990s. From then until today, <a href="/facts/Massively_parallel_(computing)/dX7W2Nxs">massively parallel</a> supercomputers with tens of thousands of off-the-shelf processors became the norm.
The US has long been the leader in the supercomputer field, first through Cray's almost uninterrupted dominance of the field, and later through a variety of technology companies. Japan made major strides in the field in the 1980s and 1990s, with China becoming increasingly active in the field. As of November 2024<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Supercomputer&action=edit">[update]</a>, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's <a href="/facts/El_Capitan_(supercomputer)/hQTdofIV">El Capitan</a> is the world's fastest supercomputer. The US has five of the top 10; Italy two, Japan, Finland, Switzerland have one each. In June 2018, all combined supercomputers on the TOP500 list broke the 1 exaFLOPS mark.

Supercomputer open-in-new

Supercomputer