http://www.tehrantimes.com/NCms/2007.asp?code=220613
www.tehrantimes.com
China supercomputer named second-fastest in global list, U.S. holds overall lead
BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese supercomputer has been ranked the world's
second-fastest machine in a list issued by U.S. and European researchers,
highlighting China's ambitions to become a global technology center.
The Nebulae system at the National Supercomputing Centre in Shenzhen in
southern China came in behind the U.S. Department of Energy's Jaguar in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, according to the list released Monday.
Supercomputers are used for complex work such as modeling weather systems,
simulating nuclear explosions and designing jetliners.
The semiannual TOP500 list highlighted Beijing's efforts to join the United
States, Europe and Japan in the global technology elite and its sharp increases
in research spending, driven by booming economic growth.
It also reflected China's continued reliance on Western know-how: Nebulae was
built by China's Dawning Information Industry Ltd. but uses processors from
Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp., both American companies.
The Nebulae is capable of sustained computing of 1.271 petaflops - or 1,271
trillion calculations - per second, according to TOP500. It said the Jaguar was
capable of sustained computing of 1.75 petaflops.
The Chinese computer ranked first in theoretical computing speed at 2.98
petaflops, the group said. The list was compiled by Hans Meuer of the
University of Mannheim, Germany; Erich Strohmaier and Horst Simon of
NERSC/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Jack Dongarra of the University
of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The communist Beijing government wants China to evolve from a low-cost factory
into an prosperous "innovation society." A 15-year government plan issued in
2006 promises support for areas ranging from computers to lasers to genetics.
Boosted by Nebulae's performance, China rose to No. 2 overall on the TOP500
list with 24 of the 500 systems on the list and 9.2 percent of global
supercomputing capacity, up from 21 systems six months ago.
The United States held onto its overall lead with 282 of the 500 systems and
55.4 percent of installed performance.
Europe had 144 systems on the list, including 38 in Britain, 29 in France and
24 in Germany.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan had 18 supercomputers on the list, up from 16 six
months ago, and India had five.
A second Chinese computer also made the Top 10. The Tianhe-1 at the National
Super Computer Center in the eastern city of Tianjin, at No. 7, uses processors
made by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., another American company.
The list also reflected breakneck advances in supercomputing speeds.
No. 1 on the June 2008 list was the Roadrunner system at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory in New Mexico, capable of 1.04 petaflops, or about
two-thirds of Jaguar's level. In the latest list, Roadrunner dropped to No. 3.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
