International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday said it has developed the world"s fastest computer, putting it back on top after a Japanese supercomputer claimed the title some two years ago. The world"s largest computer company said its Blue Gene/L supercomputer is eight times faster, and consumes 28 times less power per computation than today"s fastest supercomputers and surpassed NEC Corp."s Earth Simulator Center as the world"s most powerful supercomputer.
Supercomputers are often used for tasks as diverse as studying weather, developing advanced weapons systems and improving industrial designs. The Blue Gene/L system reached a peak performance of 36.01 teraflops, eclipsing the top mark of 35.86 teraflops for the Earth Simulator. A teraflop represents one trillion calculations per second.
To be more cost effective, the Blue Gene/L system is about 100th the size of the Earth Simulator and consumers far less power, IBM said.