Editing Supercomputer (section)

{{Short description|Type of extremely powerful computer}}
{{other uses}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:IBM Blue Gene P supercomputer.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The [[IBM Blue Gene|Blue Gene/P]] supercomputer "Intrepid" at [[Argonne National Laboratory]] (pictured 2007) runs 164,000 processor cores using normal data center air conditioning, grouped in 40 racks/cabinets connected by a high-speed [[Torus interconnect|3D torus network]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/21791.wss |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708225400/http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/21791.wss |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2007 |title=IBM Blue gene announcement |publisher=03.ibm.com |date=26 June 2007 |access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Intrepid |url=https://www.alcf.anl.gov/intrepid |website=Argonne Leadership Computing Facility |publisher=[[Argonne National Laboratory]] |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130507051619/https://www.alcf.anl.gov/intrepid |archive-date=7 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}}]]
A '''supercomputer''' is a type of [[computer]] with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in [[floating-point]] operations per second ([[FLOPS]]) instead of [[million instructions per second]] (MIPS). Since 2022, supercomputers have existed which can perform over 10<sup>18</sup>&nbsp;FLOPS, so called [[Exascale computing|exascale supercomputers]].<ref name="Top500 2024">{{cite web|url=https://www.top500.org/|title=Frontier keeps top spot, but Aurora officially becomes the second exascale machine |publisher=Top 500|access-date=13 October 2024}}</ref> For comparison, a desktop computer has performance in the range of hundreds of gigaFLOPS (10<sup>11</sup>) to tens of teraFLOPS (10<sup>13</sup>).<ref>{{Cite web|title=AMD Playstation 5 GPU Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/playstation-5-gpu.c3480|access-date=2021-09-11|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 Specs|url=https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gt-730.c1988|access-date=2021-09-11|website=TechPowerUp|language=en}}</ref> Since November 2017, all of the [[TOP500|world's fastest 500 supercomputers]] run on [[Linux]]-based operating systems.<ref>{{cite web|title=Operating system Family / Linux|url=https://www.top500.org/statistics/details/osfam/1|website=TOP500.org|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref> Additional research is being conducted in the United States, the [[European Union]], Taiwan, Japan, and China to build faster, more powerful and technologically superior exascale supercomputers.<ref>Anderson, Mark (21 June 2017).  [https://spectrum.ieee.org/global-race-toward-exascale-will-drive-supercomputing-ai-to-masses "Global Race Toward Exascale Will Drive Supercomputing, AI to Masses."]  ''Spectrum.IEEE.org''.  Retrieved 20 January 2019.</ref>

Supercomputers play an important role in the field of [[computational science]], and are used for a wide range of computationally intensive tasks in various fields, including [[quantum mechanics]], [[weather forecasting]], [[climate research]], [[oil and gas exploration]], [[Computational chemistry|molecular modeling]] (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological [[macromolecules]], polymers, and crystals), and physical simulations (such as simulations of the early moments of the universe, airplane and spacecraft [[aerodynamics]], the detonation of [[nuclear weapons]], and [[nuclear fusion]]). They have been essential in the field of [[cryptanalysis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://odenton.patch.com/articles/nsa-breaks-ground-on-massive-computing-center |title=NSA Breaks Ground on Massive Computing Center |first=Tim |last=Lemke |date=8 May 2013 |access-date=11 December 2013}}</ref>

Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s, and for several decades the fastest was made by [[Seymour Cray]] at [[Control Data Corporation]] (CDC), [[Cray Research]] 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 [[Parallel computing|parallelism]] were added, with one to four [[Central processing unit|processors]] being typical. In the 1970s, [[vector processor]]s operating on large arrays of data came to dominate. A notable example is the highly successful [[Cray-1]] of 1976. Vector computers remained the dominant design into the 1990s. From then until today, [[Massively parallel (computing)|massively parallel]] supercomputers with tens of thousands of off-the-shelf processors became the norm.<ref name=Hoffman>{{cite book |title=Supercomputers: directions in technology and applications |first=Allan R. |last=Hoffman |publisher=National Academies |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-309-04088-4 |pages=35–47 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name=Jouppi>{{cite book |author-link2=Norman Jouppi |title=Readings in computer architecture |first1=Mark Donald |last1=Hill |first2=Norman Paul |last2=Jouppi |first3=Gurindar |last3=Sohi |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-55860-539-8 |pages=40–49 |publisher=Gulf Professional }}</ref>

The U.S. has long been a leader in the supercomputer field, initially through Cray's nearly uninterrupted dominance, and later through a variety of technology companies. Japan made significant advancements in the field during the 1980s and 1990s, while China has become increasingly active in supercomputing in recent years. {{as of|November 2024}}, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's [[El Capitan (supercomputer)|El Capitan]] is the world's fastest supercomputer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=El Capitan achieves top spot, Frontier and Aurora follow behind |url=https://top500.org/news/el-capitan-achieves-top-spot-frontier-and-aurora-follow-behind/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=www.top500.org }}</ref> <!--China is assumed to have two operational exascale machines, oceanlight and tianhe-3, but they aren't on the top500 nor on china's top100 so they aren't public--> The US has five of the top 10; Italy two, Japan, Finland, Switzerland have one each.<ref name="top500.org">{{cite web|title=Japan Captures TOP500 Crown with Arm-Powered Supercomputer - TOP500 website|url=https://top500.org/news/japan-captures-top500-crown-arm-powered-supercomputer/|website=www.top500.org}}</ref> In June 2018, all combined supercomputers on the TOP500 list broke the 1&nbsp;exaFLOPS mark.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.top500.org/statistics/perfdevel/|title=Performance Development|website=www.top500.org|access-date=October 27, 2022}}</ref>