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Oak Ridge $100 million computer goes online

by on11 November 2008

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Fastest computer at open research claimed


A new
supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, nicknamed "Jaguar" by scientists, is being touted as the fastest computer at doing open research. Only one other supercomputer is faster, and it's devoted to classified research on nuclear weapons at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

In June, Jaguar was rated fifth-fastest in the world by researchers who track the 500 top supercomputers.   But now the Oak Ridge lab has upgraded Jaguar and achieved its four-year goal of 1 quadrillion calculations per second, or a "petaflop", six months ahead of schedule. The computer will be looking to research global climate change, space matter that can't be seen, and alternative energy.

Apparently, the computer achieved sustained performance of more than 1.3 petaflops while churning out calculations on superconductivity and has hit a peak speed of 1.64 petaflops, the lab said. It is still undergoing final trials but should be ready for research by January.

The condition of using the computer is that all users must share their results with the broader scientific community.
Last modified on 12 November 2008
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