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Telstra adds one million mobile services, but Sensis plummets

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Intel infiltrates the Top500, Linux is unmoved

Business IT - Technology

Every six months, a list of the Top500 most powerful supercomputers is released.  The 33rd list, released today, shows that more systems than ever are based on Intel CPUs; and Linux.

So, what are the highlights? 

Firstly, in the area of Operating System, Linux (in a number of variants, notably SLES and Red Hat) holds 450 places.  Of the remainder, AIX holds 21 places and Windows HPC 2008 just 4; sorry Bill.

As the introduction suggests, Intel CPUs are becoming dominant.  In fact since 2000, when they first appeared in the list with just a couple of entries, they have become the dominant force – peaking in the current list at 399 systems.  Of the remainder, AMD hold 43 places, meaning that the 'Intel platform,' with 442 places, is almost as dominant at the Linux Operating System.

Of the rest, 51 are PowerPC, leaving just 7 other processor systems.

From Intel's announcement of their success, "Intel-based super computing platforms are playing a pivotal role in a number of research areas, from improving the safety of space exploration to forecasting global climate conditions.  More 'mainstream' industries, such as financial services and health care, are also using Intel-based systems to achieve faster, more accurate results, to speed the pace of innovation and improve competitive advantage."

From Top500's own announcement, "Hewlett-Packard kept a narrow lead in market share by total systems from IBM, but IBM still stays ahead by overall installed performance."

Some of the more interesting observations: 4 systems (including the top-ranked computer) use the Sony Playstation 3 processor, being a nine-core chip.  System 500 in the current list would have held position 274 in the previous list (November 2008), indicating a continued rapid evolution in the industry.

Another 'oddity' is the new Dawning system, located in Shanghai, which has rocketed into the top 20 at position 15, being the fastest system running Windows HPC 2008.  It is also the fastest of the 21 Chinese systems in the list.

Time for a little parochialism before we announce the winners.



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