Tuesday, June 21, 2016

China makes world’s fastest computer 'Sunway-TaihuLight'

China has invented what it calls the world’s fastest computer - 'Sunway-TaihuLight'. The new Chinese computer system can make 93 quadrillions calculations per second .This supercomputer called Sunway-TaihuLight developed by the National Research Centre of Parallel Computer Engineering and Technology (NRCPC) is built entirely using processors designed and made in China, state-media reported. Sunway TaihuLight, with a new system built entirely using processors designed and made in China topped the list of the Top 500 supercomputers with 93 quadrillion calculations per second, according to the newest edition of the list which was announced at the 2016 International Supercomputing Conference in Germany.
Supercomputer Sunway-TaihuLight Highlights: 

  • As of June 2016 the fastest supercomputer in the world is the Sunway TaihuLight, with a Linpack benchmark of 93 petaFLOPS(PFLOPS), exceeding the previous record holder, Tianhe-2, by around 59 PFLOPS.
  • The computing power of the supercomputer is provided by a China-developed many-core CPU chip, which is just 25 square cm.
  • It is installed at the National Supercomputing Centre in China displaced Tianhe-2, an Intel-based Chinese supercomputer that has claimed the top 1 spot on the past six TOP500 lists.
  • Sunway TaihuLight is twice as fast and three times as efficient as Tianhe-2, which posted a performance of 33.86 quadrillions of calculations per second.
  • The system will be used for various research and engineering work, in areas such as climate, weather & earth systems modeling, life science research, advanced manufacturing, and data analytics.
  • Titan, a Cray X40 system installed at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is now at the third position, with 17.59 quadrillions of calculations per second.
  • Sequoia, an IBM BlueGene/Q system installed at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Fujitsu’s K computer installed at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS) in Japan are at the fourth and fifth positions respectively.