Japanese supercomputer becomes world's fastest

A Japanese supercomputer has become the fastest in the world, making calculations more than three times faster than a Chinese rival, its developers said Monday. The K Computer has achieved 8.162 quadrillion calculations per second, or 8.162 petaflops in computer jargon, according to developers Fujitsu Ltd and the state-funded Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, known as RIKEN.
In doing so K Computer overtook China's Tianhe-1A of the National Supercomputing Centre in Tianjin, which became the world number-one in November and is capable of operating at 2.566 petaflops. The K Computer's performance was recognised by the Top500 List of Supercomputers released on Monday at the 2011 International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany, Fujitsu and RIKEN said in a statement. It is the first Japanese supercomputer since 2004 to become the world's fastest, a symbolic moment for a nation proud of its cutting edge technology. NEC's Earth Simulator was the world's fastest machine between June 2002 and November 2004.
K Computer's developers say the machine will be powerful enough to tackle complex calculations relating to climate research and disaster prevention. "Use of the K computer is expected to have a groundbreaking impact in fields ranging from global climate research, meteorology, disaster prevention, and medicine, thereby contributing to the creation of a prosperous and secure society," the statement added.
K Computer is still being configured and has been assembled since October 2010 at a RIKEN's facility in Kobe, western Japan, where it should be completed by June 2012, the statement said. It is made up of 672 computer cabinets currently equipped with of 68,544 computer processing units (CPUs), Fujitsu and RIKEN said in a press release. When finished, the machine will have more than 80,000 CPUs and be able to operate at 10 petaflops.