ecns [expanded by feedex.net]: Tianhe-2 remains world's fastest supercomputer for third time

ecns [expanded by feedex.net]

ecns

Tianhe-2 remains world's fastest supercomputer for third time
http://www.ecns.cn/learning-Chinese/2014/06-24/120653.shtml
Jun 24th 2014, 06:18

2014-06-24 15:18 Xinhua



Tianhe-2 remains world's fastest supercomputer for third time


China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, with a performance of 33.86 petaflops per second (Pflops/s), retained the title of the world's fastest system for the third consecutive time, according to a biannual Top500 list of supercomputers released Monday.


Tianhe-2, developed by China's National University of Defense Technology and deployed at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has held the title for China since June 2013.


The Chinese supercomputer is almost twice as fast as the next on the list, Titan of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which has a performance of 17.59 Pflop/s.


Tianhe-2 "features a number of Chinese-developed components, including the TH Express-2 interconnect network, front-end processors, operating system and software tools," the list said.


Sequoia, installed at the DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is still No. 3 system with a performance of 17.17 Pflop/s. Japan's K computer is No. 4 system with 10.51 Pflop/s, followed by Mira, installed at the DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, which has a performance of 8.59 Pflop/s.


"In fact, there was little change among the ranking of the world's top 10 supercomputers in the latest edition of the closely watched list," the organizers of the Top500 list said in a statement.


"The only new entry was at number 10 -- a 3.14 Pflop/s Cray XC30 installed at an undisclosed U.S. government site," they said.


The United States has a total of 233 systems on the latest list, down from 265 six months ago. This is near its lowest share of 226 in the early 2000s.


Chinese mainland, No. 2 consumer of supercomputers, has 76 systems, up from 63 on the previous list. That means it has almost as many supercomputers as Britain, with 30; France, with 27; and Germany, with 23; combined.


Japan also increased its showing, up to 30 from 28 on the previous list.


According to the Top500 list, the total combined performance of all 500 systems has grown to 274 Pflop/s, compared to 250 Pflop/s six months ago and 223 Pflop/s one year ago.


However, the organizers said "the overall growth rate of all the systems is at a historical low" since the list was introduced in June 1993.


"Recent installations of very large systems -- up to June 2013 -- have counteracted the reduced growth rate at the bottom of the list," the statement said.


"But with few new systems at the top of the past few lists, the overall growth rate is now slowing."


It said the market for the very largest systems "might currently behave differently" from the market of mid-sized and smaller supercomputers.


From 1994 to 2008, the annual growth rate for No. 500 systems' performance was 90 percent, but it has only grown by 55 percent per year since 2008.


The Top500 list is considered one of the most authoritative rankings of the world's supercomputers. It is compiled on the basis of the machines' performance on the Linpack benchmark by experts from the United States and Germany.




中国"天河二号"获全球超级计算机５００强三连冠


国际ＴＯＰ５００组织２３日公布了最新的全球超级计算机５００强排行榜，中国的"天河二号"超级计算机以比第二名美国"泰坦"超级计算机快近一倍的速度，连续第三次获得冠军。


ＴＯＰ５００榜单每半年发布一次。自去年６月以来，"天河二号"就以每秒３３．８６千万亿次的浮点运算速度稳居榜首。除了芯片技术外，这一系统大多由中国自主研发。美国能源部下属橡树岭国家实验室的"泰坦"则连续３次屈居亚军，其浮点运算速度为每秒１７．５９千万亿次。


第三名至第五名分别是美国劳伦斯－利弗莫尔国家实验室的"红杉"、日本理化研究所的"京"和美国阿尔贡国家实验室的"米拉"，这一排名与上一期榜单无异。与上一期相比，前十名的唯一变化是第十名，新入选的是隶属于美国政府的"克雷"ＸＣ３０超级计算机，其运算速度不到"天河二号"的十分之一。


国际ＴＯＰ５００组织在一份声明中说，从榜单看，"超级计算机的整体性能提升速度已降至历史最低点"。例如，在１９９４年至２００８年间，榜单最后一名的计算性能平均每年提升９０％，而过去５年每年只提升了５５％。


从整个榜单来看，美国进入前５００强的超级计算机从上一期的２６５个下降至本期的２３３个，但优势依然明显。第二名中国大陆则从６３个增至７６个。日本和英国分别以３０台并列第三。


超级计算机是国家科研的重要基础工具，在地质、气象、石油勘探等领域的研究中发挥关键作用，也是汽车、航空、化工、制药等行业的重要科研工具。ＴＯＰ５００榜是对全球已安装的超级计算机"排座次"的最知名排行榜。从１９９３年起，由国际ＴＯＰ５００组织以实测计算速度为基准每年发布两次。






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