A
Alias
http://blogs.computerworld.com/linux_it_doesnt_get_any_faster
For those who are running Windows and are afraid of clicking on an URL
(with good reason, being as Windows is SO vulnerable to malware), I have
copied the entire article:
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Created Jun 23 2009 - 11:43am
"The Windows' fan club likes to point out that Windows is far more
popular than Linux. The reason for that has nothing to do with quality
and everything to do with monopoly. Nothing shows that better than the
semi-annual TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers [1].
In the latest ranking, where performance is everything and nothing else
matters, Windows is stalled out at the starting line, and Linux is
lapping the field.
Specifically, Linux has increased its already substantial supercomputer
market share [2] to 88.6%. Linux is followed by hybrid Unix/Linux
systems with 5.8%; Unix, mostly IBM's AIX, with 4.4%; and running close
to last, Windows HPC (high-performance computing) with 1%. Only BSD,
with a single representative on the list, trails Windows.
In the lead at the number 1 spot with 1.105 petaflop/s (quadrillions of
floating point operations per second) is the Los Alamos National
Laboratory Roadrunner system by IBM. Roadrunner was the first system, to
break the petaflop/s Linpack barrier [3] in June 2008.
How fast is that? According to the Department of Energy [4], which paid
for the Roadrunner, "One petaflop is 1,000 trillion operations per
second. To put this into perspective, if each of the 6 billion people on
earth had a hand calculator and worked together on a calculation 24
hours per day, 365 days a year, it would take 46 years to do what
Roadrunner would do in one day."
And, of course, the Roadrunner is fueled by Linux. In fact, all the top
ten run Linux.
The hardware the supercomputers run on is quickly shifting over to
multi-core processors. In this latest ranking, only four supercomputers
still use single-core CPUs. Quad-core processor-based systems are found
in 383 systems, while 102 systems are using dual-core processors. In
addition, four supercomputers are now using IBM's Sony PlayStation 3
processor with 9 cores. Yes, that's right, top of the line
supercomputers use the same top of the line processors found in
PlayStations. Neat isn't it?
Most of the supercomputer processors though come from Intel. To be
exact, 399 systems, 79.8% are Intel. IBM Power processors come in second
with 55 systems, 11% with AMD Opteron family with 43 systems in the
third spot.
Regardless of the processor, one thing isn't just staying the same, it's
actually growing, and that's Linux in supercomputers. When being the
fastest of the fast is all that matters, Linux isn't just winning, it's
extending its lead."
[1] http://www.top500.org/lists/2009/06/press-release
[2] http://blogs.computerworld.com/where_windows_is_2_to_linux
[3]
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9095279
[4] http://www.energy.gov/news/6321.htm
Alias
For those who are running Windows and are afraid of clicking on an URL
(with good reason, being as Windows is SO vulnerable to malware), I have
copied the entire article:
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Created Jun 23 2009 - 11:43am
"The Windows' fan club likes to point out that Windows is far more
popular than Linux. The reason for that has nothing to do with quality
and everything to do with monopoly. Nothing shows that better than the
semi-annual TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers [1].
In the latest ranking, where performance is everything and nothing else
matters, Windows is stalled out at the starting line, and Linux is
lapping the field.
Specifically, Linux has increased its already substantial supercomputer
market share [2] to 88.6%. Linux is followed by hybrid Unix/Linux
systems with 5.8%; Unix, mostly IBM's AIX, with 4.4%; and running close
to last, Windows HPC (high-performance computing) with 1%. Only BSD,
with a single representative on the list, trails Windows.
In the lead at the number 1 spot with 1.105 petaflop/s (quadrillions of
floating point operations per second) is the Los Alamos National
Laboratory Roadrunner system by IBM. Roadrunner was the first system, to
break the petaflop/s Linpack barrier [3] in June 2008.
How fast is that? According to the Department of Energy [4], which paid
for the Roadrunner, "One petaflop is 1,000 trillion operations per
second. To put this into perspective, if each of the 6 billion people on
earth had a hand calculator and worked together on a calculation 24
hours per day, 365 days a year, it would take 46 years to do what
Roadrunner would do in one day."
And, of course, the Roadrunner is fueled by Linux. In fact, all the top
ten run Linux.
The hardware the supercomputers run on is quickly shifting over to
multi-core processors. In this latest ranking, only four supercomputers
still use single-core CPUs. Quad-core processor-based systems are found
in 383 systems, while 102 systems are using dual-core processors. In
addition, four supercomputers are now using IBM's Sony PlayStation 3
processor with 9 cores. Yes, that's right, top of the line
supercomputers use the same top of the line processors found in
PlayStations. Neat isn't it?
Most of the supercomputer processors though come from Intel. To be
exact, 399 systems, 79.8% are Intel. IBM Power processors come in second
with 55 systems, 11% with AMD Opteron family with 43 systems in the
third spot.
Regardless of the processor, one thing isn't just staying the same, it's
actually growing, and that's Linux in supercomputers. When being the
fastest of the fast is all that matters, Linux isn't just winning, it's
extending its lead."
[1] http://www.top500.org/lists/2009/06/press-release
[2] http://blogs.computerworld.com/where_windows_is_2_to_linux
[3]
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9095279
[4] http://www.energy.gov/news/6321.htm
Alias