This is the first in a year-long series of articles that will examine the TOP500, a list of the most powerful computers in the world. What started as a means for scientists to track supercomputer installations back in the 1990’s has transformed into a yardstick for measuring the technological competitiveness of nations on the world stage.
The TOP500 comes out twice a year in conjunction with the two major HPC world conferences: SC (also known as Supercomputing) in the U.S. in November and the International ISC conference held in Germany each June. To get on the list, organizations with new supercomputer installations submit their LINPACK benchmark results to TOP500.org, which then goes about the process of ranking all the results. The list is then posted here on TOP500.org along with the statistics from all the past lists compiled since 1993. It’s a veritable treasure chest for computer historians and marketeers who wish to substantiate their positions in the competitive world of HPC.
TOP500.org has aligned with insideHPC to bring you this series of features. We hope you enjoy these stories and take advantage of the many other HPC resources available on their site while you’re there. To kick things off, here are Eight Things You Might Not Know About the TOP500.
