Supercomputer

A supercomputer is a broad term for the fastest computers that are currently available. Such computers are typically used for intense processing tasks, including scientific simulations, (animated) graphics, (e.g. in petrochemical prospecting), , computational , physics, chemistry, electronic design, nuclear energy research and .. 1996-12-13.
==Description==
A classic definition of a supercomputer was being capable of doing more than a billion floating-point calculations per second (a gigaflop).The golden gigaflop: Apple’s shrinking performance sweet spot by Pauli Olavi Ojala, The Startup, Medium. 2015-11-22. A less serious definition, reported from about 1990 at the stated that a supercomputer is any computer that can outperform IBM's current fastest model, thus making it impossible for the company to ever produce a supercomputer.
==History==
 was a well-known known supercomputer manufacturer when Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs was said to have visited their facility in to acquire a . After Jobs had been ousted by the Apple Board of Directors in 1985, CEO John Sculley contacted Mike Wilhelm at Cray to have Bence Gerber deliver a Cray X-MP/48 in August 1986. Another unit was acquired in February 1991, followed by a 2E upgrade in that same year. A Cray Y-MP EL was purchased in December 1993 and remained in use until June 1998. Uses included computational to improve disk drive head design and board logic proving tests. A Classic Mac OS emulator had even been written for the first X-MP.What are the Cray Research connections with Apple Computers? by Clive England, Cray-History. 2021-07-16.
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Steve Jobs later returned to Apple and introduced the Power Mac G4 in 1999 as the first desktop "supercomputer" due to its ability to exceed a gigaflop. As a result, the U.S. government deemed the "supercomputer" a "weapon" and blocked the G4 from being marketed in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. Jobs used the publicity to market the computers elsewhere while lobbying to have the restrictions removed.Apple tries to get G4 export ban lifted by Terho Uimonen, CNN. 1999-09-17. Archived 2002-04-18.
As high-end computer workstations could rival the speed of earlier supercomputers, acquired over 1,100 Power Mac G5s in 2003 to network them through the standard into System X. It was initially capable of 10.28 teraflops, making it the third fastest supercomputer in the world.System X: building the Virginia Tech supercomputer by Srinidhi Varadarajan, IEEE Explore. 2005-03-14. By the following year, it had been upgraded to 2.3 GHz Xserve G5s, featuring smaller size, power requirements, and support for RAM.Virginia Tech G5 supercomputer upgraded to 2.3GHz Xserves by Kasper Jade, AppleInsider. 2004-09-28.
In 2013, social media company Facebook built a supercomputer with Mac Minis at one of its data centers for the purpose of testing its iOS apps.Facebook Erects Supercomputers With Giant Stacks of Mac Minis by Cade Metz, Wired. 2013-12-06. Archived 2014-03-31. In 2020, the went online as the first ARM-based supercomputer, also becoming the fastest in the world at 1.42 exaflops.Good news for future Macs: The fastest supercomputer uses Arm chips by Stephen Shankland, CNET. 2020-06-23.
==References==
==See also==
*Vector processor
==External links==
*Supercomputer at Britannica
*What is supercomputing? at IBM
*Supercomputer at TechTarget
* at Wikipedia
===Articles===
*Apple Cray Computer by MarkJenkins at the WikiWikiWeb (2013-12-19)
*Cray 2 v iPhone XS: Fight! by Diego Sandoval at Medium (2018-12-16)
Category:Computers