One of the fantastic technological advances we have today that had a significant role in finding a vaccine for COVID is supercomputers.
A supercomputer is a highly advanced computer that performs complex calculations at incredibly high speeds. Supercomputers are designed to have more computational power than any general-purpose computer. This processing power is what allows supercomputers to accomplish the tasks they do, a feat often discussed by the 5 Female Researchers Shaping the Future of Computer Science.
The question now is, how do supercomputers have this power?
Supercomputers have this tremendous power because they can harness the power of many processors working in parallel. Often in the thousands or even millions of processors. One of the measures used to evaluate the speed of a computer is what we refer to in the computing field as FLOPS or (Floating Point Operations Per Second). Supercomputers are capable of performing trillions or even quadrillions of FLOPS.
Supercomputers have a unique architecture optimized for high-performance computing tasks. They often employ advanced parallel, pipelining, and vector processing techniques, unlike regular computers.
Due to their immense power and size, supercomputers require specialized cooling and management systems different from those we use for general-purpose computers. We will discuss the programming languages for supercomputers and their structures in future articles!
HOW DO SUPERCOMPUTERS WORK?
Since supercomputers harness many processors to perform parallel computing, they must have some techniques to handle processing complex problems in parallel. Here’s a breakdown of how supercomputers work:
PARALLEL PROCESSING:
Unlike regular computers that might have a few cores, supercomputers have thousands to millions of processors. These processors work simultaneously on different parts of a problem, allowing the supercomputer to achieve immense computational speeds.
HIGH-SPEED INTERCONNECTS:
For parallel processing to be effective, the processors need to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently. Supercomputers use advanced high-speed interconnects to ensure that data transfer between processors is as fast as possible.
SPECIALIZED HARDWARE:
Supercomputers often have custom-designed chips and hardware components optimized for specific calculations.
HIERARCHICAL MEMORY:
Supercomputers use a hierarchy of memory types, from high-speed cache memory (closest to the processors) to RAM and more extensive storage solutions like SSDs or HDDs. This hierarchy ensures that processors have rapid access to the data they need.
SCALABILITY:
Supercomputers are designed to be scalable. As computational needs grow, more processors, memory, and storage can be added to the system.
ADVANCED COOLING SYSTEMS:
Due to the immense amount of processing power, supercomputers generate a lot of heat. They are equipped with advanced cooling systems, often liquid cooling, to dissipate this heat and keep the machine running efficiently.
OPTIMIZED SOFTWARE:
The software running on supercomputers is optimized for parallel processing. This includes both the operating system and the applications. Algorithms are designed to break problems into smaller chunks that can be processed simultaneously.
TASK SCHEDULING:
Supercomputers use sophisticated task-scheduling algorithms to ensure that all processors are utilized efficiently. This involves determining which tasks should be run in parallel and which should be queued for later.
APPLICATIONS OF SUPERCOMPUTERS
As we just mentioned, supercomputers have a tremendous amount of processing power. Hence, they are used for tasks that require enormous computational power. Such tasks include:
· Scientific Simulations: Modeling climate change, predicting weather patterns, and simulating nuclear explosions.
· Biological Research: Analyzing DNA sequences, protein folding, and drug discovery.
· Astronomy: Simulating the formation of galaxies and studying black holes.
· Energy Research: Exploring new energy sources and optimizing power grids.
· Financial Modeling: Running complex financial simulations and risk assessments.
Supercomputers break down significant, complex problems into smaller tasks that can be processed simultaneously. This parallel approach, combined with specialized hardware and software, allows supercomputers to achieve their remarkable speeds and tackle problems that would be infeasible for regular computers. Doing so helps researchers and scientists advance science and technology and helps shape the future of humanity.
The downside to supercomputers is their cost and size. Because supercomputers utilize thousands of processors and require customized hardware and software, they are only feasible in some places. Often, supercomputers are built using governmental funding in government-based labs and give access to universities and companies within the same country or internationally. Moreover, supercomputers are massive; buildings are often designed and built specifically for them, which also adds to their cost.
Luckily, these supercomputers can be accessed online, and researchers can use them from anywhere as long as they have a computer and a stable internet connection.
