TOP500
ANDREW FECHEYR LIPPENS
TMC CM-5 (1993) #1 on the first top 500
CAC Actividad 1: Top 500 Supercomputers Sites “Anyone can build a fast CPU. The trick is to build a fast system” -- Seymour Cray In the early 1990s, a new definition of supercomputer was needed to produce meaningful statistics. After experimenting with metrics based on processor count in 1992, the idea was born at the University of Mannheim to compose a detailed listing of installed systems and use it as the basis. This was the beginning of the TOP500 list. In early 1993 Jack Dongarra was convinced to join the project with his Linpack benchmark. A first test version was produced in May 1993, partially based on data available on the Internet. Since June 1993 the TOP500 is produced bi-annually based on site and vendor submissions only. Today, the list is compiled by Hans Meuer of the University of Mannheim, Germany, Jack Dongarra of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Erich Strohmaier and Horst Simon of NERSC/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The list is updated twice a year. The first of these updates always coincides with the International Supercomputer Conference in June, the second one is presented in November at the IEEE Super Computer Conference in the USA. With two lists compiled every year from 1993 up until now, it brings the total number to 33 lists. Next we will take a closer look at the last iteration of the list, the June 2009 edition.
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Content table Current TOP500 The World’s Fastest Computer Previous #1 Machines Evolution of Supercomputers The Linpack Benchmark
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The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful known computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year. The project aims to provide a reliable basis for tracking and detecting trends in high-performance computing and uses a portable implementation of the Linpack benchmark