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New Super Computer Has Power of Two-Million Laptops

by Terrence O'Brien on February 3, 2009 at 04:16 PM

New Super Computer Makes Current Fastest Look Like Commodore 64

About six months ago, IBM unveiled Roadrunner, a super computer built to maintain our nation's nuclear arsenal. Roadrunner was twice as fast as BluGene/L, the fastest computer on Earth for three years running. But if you thought Roadrunner was impressive, you haven't seen anything yet.

IBM has begun work on Sequoia, a new super computer for the Department of Energy (DoE) that will also help maintain the government's nuclear stockpile. Sequoia will run at about 20 petaflops, or 20 quadrillion calculations per-second -- almost 20 times faster than Roadrunner. Sequoia will be so powerful that it will need its own super computer, Dawn, just to shuttle data and information between it and researchers. Dawn will be as powerful as former super computing champ BluGene/L.

IBM expects to deliver computational monster -- which is the size of a whole house, contains 1.6-million microprocessors, and has the processing power of two million laptops -- in 2011. All we want to know is how well it'll run Crysis. [From: Times Online]

A History of Computer Firsts

    Although never fully-functional, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer was first built in 1937 and is considered by many to be the first electronic computing machine.

    J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly began construction of the massive ENIAC computer in 1943. The gym-sized computer is usually regarded as the world's first fully functional digital computer.

    Built in 1948, the Small Scale Experimental Machine, or 'Baby,' as it was nicknamed, became the first truly reprogrammable computer, making it the first 'modern' computer.

    The Altair 8800, introduced as the world's first 'personal computer,' debuted in 1975.

    The Osborne 1, released in 1981, was the world's first laptop -- it even came with a handle!

    Apple first iMac, nicknamed 'Bondi Blue,' launched all the way back in 1998. Even now, several generations and redesigns later, the iMac line continues to be a hit with consumers.


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Tags: department of energy, DepartmentOfEnergy, doe, ibm, research, super computer, SuperComputer, superlatives

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