BEIJING: China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, capable of operating at 33.86 petaflop/s, has retained the title of world's fastest supercomputer, beating competitors from both the US and Japan. It is built by China's National University of Defence Technology in Guangzhou.

Its computing speed is the equivalent of performing 33,863 trillion calculations per second and is almost double the score achieved by the second most powerful machine: the American Titan supercomputer, which clocked in at 17.59 petaflop/s.

Tianhe-2 retained its position as the world's No. 1 system, according to the 42nd edition of the Biannual TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers announced yesterday.

Read more...

Development

The development of Tianhe-2 was sponsored by the 863 High Technology Program, initiated by the Chinese government, the government of Guangdong province, and the government of Guangzhou city.[1] It was built by China's National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in collaboration with the Chinese IT firm Inspur.[1][5] Inspur manufactured the printed circuit boards and helped with the installation and testing of the system software.[1] The project was originally scheduled for completion in 2015, but was instead declared operational in June 2013.[6] As of June 2013, The Supercomputer has yet to become fully operational. It is expected to reach its full computing capabilities by the end of 2013.[5]

In June 2013, Tianhe-2 topped the TOP500 list of fastest supercomputers in the world. The computer beat out second place finisher Titan by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. Titan, which is housed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, achieved 17.59 petaflops, while Tianhe-2 achieved 33.86 petaflops. Tianhe-2's phenomenal performance returned the title of the world's fastest supercomputer to China after Tianhe-I's debut in November 2010. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers said Tianhe-2's win "symbolizes China's unflinching commitment to the supercomputing arms race".[5] China houses 66 of the top 500 supercomputers, second only to the United States' 252 systems.

China's Tianhe-2 Becomes World's Fastest Supercomputer