IBM’s new supercomputer announced

IBM’s new super computer, the Sequoia, packs the punch of 2 million laptops.

IBM’s new super computer, the Sequoia, packs the punch of 2 million laptops. The computer is slated for delivery in 2011 to the US Department of Energy for use at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Sequoia’s processor will move at a lightning 20 petaflops – Peta is a term for quadrillion and FLOP stands for floating point operations per second.

Just seven months ago IBM revealed an earlier incarnation of the Sequoia, which at the time was considered the world’s fastest computer. IBM revealed that Sequoia, and a smaller computer called Dawn, are being built in Rochester, Minnesota, for use in simulating nuclear tests.

The super power however comes at a supersize – Sequoia will occupy 96 refigerator-sized racks in an area the size of a big house – 3,422 square feet (318 square metres).

Source: news.com.au