01/08/2023
with ● Scientists in Tennessee in May unveiled a supercomputer that cracked the threshold of a quintillion calculations per second. The system, called Frontier—officially the world’s fastest—requires many gallons of water (for cooling), highly trained staff and massive physical infrastructure to operate.
● Supercomputers run hot. Keeping Frontier from melting down requires infrastructure that sprawls over 7,300 square feet. Powered by enormous pumps, about 6,000 gallons of water per minute flow through the system and across the computer’s more than 9,000 nodes.
● Soon after starting operations in 2022, Frontier took the title of the world’s fastest computer, as judged by publicly available data. It broke the so-called exascale barrier—meaning it’s able to complete more than 1 quintillion calculations in one second. That’s equivalent to each person on Earth completing 60 calculations per minute, with no breaks, over the span of four years.
● Tap the link in our bio for more. (📸: Alastair Philip Wiper for Bloomberg Businessweek)
