Supercomputers

Development and history of the supercomputer. Supercomputers are the fastest, most powerful computers designed to tackle complex problems requiring vast amounts of computer time. Two types of supercomputer exist. One type has several extremely complex and expensive processors that carry out computations serially, one at a time. Performing billions of operations per second, they are being overshadowed by a second type called massively parallel supercomputing. This system has thousands of simple, inexpensive processors connected in parallel. A computational problem is divided into parts, with portions assigned simultaneously to various processors. The individual processors calculate subtotals and send them to a central processor for combining. The links included herein relate to supercomputers and their development.