Supercomputing History
editSince its construction in 1987, the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division has housed and operated some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. Many of these computers include testbed systems built to test new architecture, hardware, or networking set-ups that might be utilized on a larger scale.[1][2] Peak performance is shown in Floating Point Operations Per Second (FLOPS).
| Computer Name | Architecture | Peak Performance | Number of CPUs | Installation Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cray XMP-12 | 210.53 megaflops | 1 | 1984 | |
| Navier | Cray 2 | 1.95 gigaflops | 4 | 1985 |
| Chuck | Convex 3820 | 1.9 gigaflops | 8 | 1987 |
| Pierre | Thinking Machines CM2 | 14.34 gigaflops | 16,000 | 1987 |
| 43 gigaflops | 48,000 | 1991 | ||
| Stokes | Cray 2 | 1.95 gigaflops | 4 | 1988 |
| Piper | CDC/ETA-10Q | 840 megaflops | 4 | 1988 |
| Reynolds | Cray Y-MP | 2.54 gigaflops | 8 | 1988 |
| 2.67 gigaflops | 8 | 1990 | ||
| Lagrange | Intel iPSC/860 | 7.68 gigaflops | 128 | 1990 |
| Gamma | Intel iPSC/860 | 7.68 gigaflops | 128 | 1990 |
| von Karman | Convex 3240 | 200 megaflops | 4 | 1991 |
| Boltzman | Thinking Machines CM5 | 16.38 gigaflops | 128 | 1993 |
| Sigma | Intel Paragon | 15.60 gigaflops | 208 | 1993 |
| von Neumann | Cray C90 | 15.36 gigaflops | 16 | 1993 |
| Eagle | Cray C90 | 7.68 gigaflops | 8 | 1993 |
| Grace | Intel Paragon | 15.6 gigaflops | 209 | 1993 |
| Babbage | IBM SP-2 | 34.05 gigaflops | 128 | 1994 |
| 42.56 gigaflops | 160 | 1994 | ||
| da Vinci | SGI Power Challenge | 16 | 1994 | |
| SGI Power Challenge XL | 11.52 gigaflops | 32 | 1995 | |
| Newton | Cray J90 | 7.2 gigaflops | 36 | 1996 |
| Piglet | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 4 gigaflops | 8 | 1997 |
| Turing | SGI Origin 2000/195 MHz | 9.36 gigaflops | 24 | 1997 |
| 25 gigaflops | 64 | 1997 | ||
| Fermi | SGI Origin 2000/195 MHz | 3.12 gigaflops | 8 | 1997 |
| Hopper | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 32 gigaflops | 64 | 1997 |
| Evelyn | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 4 gigaflops | 8 | 1997 |
| Steger | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 64 gigaflops | 128 | 1997 |
| 128 gigaflops | 256 | 1998 | ||
| Lomax | SGI Origin 2800/300 MHz | 307.2 gigaflops | 512 | 1999 |
| 409.6 gigaflops | 512 | 2000 | ||
| Lou | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 4.68 gigaflops | 12 | 1999 |
| Ariel | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 4 gigaflops | 8 | 2000 |
| Sebastian | SGI Origin 2000/250 MHz | 4 gigaflops | 8 | 2000 |
| SN1-512 | SGI Origin 3000/400 MHz | 409.6 gigaflops | 512 | 2001 |
| Bright | Cray SVe1/500 MHz | 64 gigaflops | 32 | 2001 |
| Chapman | SGI Origin 3800/400 MHz | 819.2 gigaflops | 1,024 | 2001 |
| 1.23 teraflops | 1,024 | 2002 | ||
| Lomax II | SGI Origin 3800/400 MHz | 409.6 gigaflops | 512 | 2002 |
| Kalpana[3] | SGI Altix 3000 [4] | 2.66 teraflops | 512 | 2003 |
| Cray X1[5] | 204.8 gigaflops | 2004 | ||
| Columbia | SGI Altix 3000[6] | 63 teraflops | 10,240 | 2004 |
| SGI Altix 4700 | 10,296 | 2006 | ||
| 85.8 teraflops[7] | 13,824 | 2007 | ||
| Schirra | IBM POWER5+[8] | 4.8 teraflops | 640 | 2007 |
| RT Jones | SGI ICE 8200, Intel Xeon "Harpertown" Processors | 43.5 teraflops | 4,096 | 2007 |
| Pleiades | SGI ICE 8200, Intel Xeon "Harpertown" Processors[9] | 487 teraflops | 51,200 | 2008 |
| 544 teraflops[10] | 56,320 | 2009 | ||
| SGI ICE 8200, Intel Xeon "Harpertown"/"Nehalem" Processors[11] | 773 teraflops | 81,920 | 2010 | |
| SGI ICE 8200/8400, Intel Xeon "Harpertown"/"Nehalem"/"Westmere" Processors[12] | 1.09 petaflops | 111,104 | 2011 | |
| SGI ICE 8200/8400/X, Intel Xeon "Harpertown"/"Nehalem"/"Westmere"/"Sandy Bridge" Processors[13] | 1.24 petaflops | 125,980 | 2012 | |
| SGI ICE 8200/8400/X, Intel Xeon "Nehalem"/"Westmere"/"Sandy Bridge"/"Ivy Bridge" Processors[14] | 2.87 petaflops | 162,496 | 2013 | |
| SGI ICE 8200/8400/X, Intel Xeon " "/" "/" " Processors[15] | petaflops | 2014 | ||
| Endeavour | SGI UV 2000, Intel Xeon "Sandy Bridge" Processors[16] | 32 teraflops | 1,536 | 2013 |
| Merope | SGI ICE 8200, Intel Xeon "Harpertown" Processors[17] | 61 teraflops | 5,120 | 2013 |
Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
editIn May 2013, the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory was established as part of a joint research project between NASA, Google Research, and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) to assess the potential of quantum computers to perform calculations that are difficult or impossible using conventional supercomputers in a realistic timeframe[18] and to study how quantum computing might advance machine learning.[19] The project is centered around a 512-qubit D-Wave Two system installed at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility.[20]
- ^ "NAS High-Performance Computer History". Gridpoints: 1A–12A. Spring 2002.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
25thwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "NASA to Name Supercomputer After Columbia Astronaut". NAS May 2005.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA Ames Installs World's First Alitx 512-Processor Supercomputer". NAS November 2003.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "New Cray X1 System Arrives at NAS". NAS April 2004.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA Unveils Its Newest, Most Powerful Supercomputer". NASA October 2004.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Columbia Supercomputer Legacy homepage". NASA.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA Selects IBM for Next-Generation Supercomputing Applications". NASA June 2007.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA Supercomputer Ranks Among World's Fastest – November 2008". NASA November 2008.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "'Live' Integration of Pleiades Rack Saves 2 Million Hours". NAS February 2010.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA Supercomputer Doubles Capacity, Increases Efficiency". NASA June 2010.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA's Pleiades Supercomputer Ranks Among World's Fastest". NASA June 2011.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Pleiades Supercomputer Gets a Little More Oomph". NASA June 2012.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA's Pleiades Supercomputer Upgraded, Harpertown Nodes Repurposed". NAS August 2013.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Pleiades Supercomputer Resource homepage". NAS.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Endeavour Supercomputer Resource homepage". NAS.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "NASA's Pleiades Supercomputer Upgraded, Harpertown Nodes Repurposed". NAS August 2013.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (NASA)". NASA.
- ^ Hartmut Neven, Director of Engineering (May 16, 2013). "Launching the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab". Google Research Blog.
- ^ "Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory: Quantum Computer homepage". NASA.