IBM’s Sequoia Becomes Fastest Supercomputer Worldwide

Sequoia, the new supercomputer from IBM, is now the world’s fastest, and Japan’s K Computer made by Fujitsu has just fallen into the second place. Sequoia is installed at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and is used to perform nuclear weapons management.

Another interesting thing about this supercomputer is that it runs faster while consuming less power than its Japanese competitor. The IBM system demands 7.9 megawatts in use, more than a third less than the K Computer.

“While Sequoia may be the fastest, the underlying computing capabilities it provides give us increased confidence in the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” stated National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) administrator Thomas D’Agostino. “Sequoia also represents continued American leadership in high performance computing.”

Sequoia is 1.55 times faster than the K Computer, and uses over 1.5 million processors. The Japanese model has less than half the number of CPUs.

To understand why Sequoia is a supercomputer, think of this simple fact: it is capable of calculating something that would require 6.7 billion people using hand calculators for 320 years of non-stop work in just one hour. That’s something!

This moment has been a long time coming event for IBM who has been eying the international crown on fastest computer. In fact, David Turek, vice president of deep computing at the company said to BBC: “Substantial planning went into this. We knew the day would come.”

Now that the world’s fastest computer was launched, what’s important is the way it will be used. And of course it’s just a matter of time until new fast computers are launched by IBM’s competitors. For the moment, however, it is a big accomplishment for IBM and a moment to savor by the company as its efforts are now recognize worldwide.

Surely, Makovsky PR, Ketchum & Text 100 who are among IBM’s PR Agencies can do great work with this story.