Fastest Computer: A Horse Race Without a Post
Title of world’s fastest supercomputer now resides in China. Their new Tianhe-2 claims nearly 34 petaflops. These laurels get passed around the world regularly: only last year IBM in the US declared it had the world’s fastest supercomputer, reclaiming the title from Japan, who got it from China a few months before that. If we’re serious about globalization, all this punditry about which country “beat” which other one in this competition is kind of silly. What I want to know is where can I get one and since the Tianhe-2 belongs to the National University of Defence Technology, I’m guessing a commercial system isn’t available. For most intents and purposes what matters is who’s got the highest speed and would be willing to sell me cycles if I’m not a powerful government agency of whatever nation currently holds the “fastest” crown. I”m not sure, but that might be Cray’s Titan.
