Computers

Article n°1: China aims to build world’s first exascale supercomputer prototype by end of 2017

Call it a super-supercomputer

by James Vincent

Building supercomputers is a digital arms race, and China is moving quickly to solidify its lead. Last year, the country unveiled the world’s fastest supercomputer, the Sunway TaihuLight (above). This year, according to state news agency Xinhua, the government has set its sights on completing the world’s first prototype exascale computer; a machine capable of making a billion billion calculations per second.

WHAT’S A FLOP?

The power of supercomputers is commonly measured in FLOPS or “floating point operations per second.” The greater the number of FLOPS a computer can calculate, the more powerful it is.

Right now, the fastest supercomputers in the world can make quadrillions — or thousands of trillions — calculations each second. Using the standard system of metric measurement, a quadrillion is referred to using the prefix “peta.” So, the speed of these computers is calculated in petaflops, and computers operating at this level are referred to as petascale machines.

Following this system of prefixes, the next step up from “peta” is “exa” — meaning a quintillion or a billion billion. A computer that can compute this number of calculations each second is measured in exaflops and is said to be an exascale machine.

The prototype computer will be ready before the end of the year, said Zhang Ting, an engineer at the country’s National Supercomputer Center, but the finished product won’t be operational for several years more. “A complete computing system of the exascale supercomputer and its applications can only be expected in 2020,” said Zhang. “[It] will be 200 times more powerful than the country's first petaflop computer Tianhe-1, recognized as the world's fastest in 2010.”

It’s not clear exactly how this prototype system will relate to the finished exascale computer in terms of capability, but the news suggests China will at least be first to reach such a milestone. A number of nations — including Japan and the US — are planning to build exascale computers. The US Department of Energy says its current schedule is to have an exsacale system operational by 2023.

As of last June, China has more supercomputers in the world’s top 500 than the US — 167 compared to 165. (The US has more machines in the top 10 though; five to China’s two.) These systems are used for a number of tasks, ranging from life sciences to national defense. In 2015, the US actually blocked the export of Intel chips to China for its then-fastest supercomputer, fearing that the machine would be used for nuclear research. China instead built an even faster system (the Sunway TaihuLight) using its own processors instead.

Article n°2: Intel’s Compute Card mini-computer is so small that you may lose it

Intel’s Compute Card is the smallest and thinnest computer the chipmaker has ever made.

By Agam Shah

You’ve perhaps never seen a full-blown computer smaller than Intel’s amazingly thin Compute Card, announced for the first time at CES.

At first glance, it’s easy to mistake the modular computer for a credit card or smart card. It’s so thin, it could be easy to lose.

But it’s a full blown computer, crammed with a 7th Generation Intel Kaby Lake processor, memory, storage, and wireless connectivity.

It’s so small, it can’t accommodate USB-C or other ports to power up or connect to displays. The Compute Card will work only after being plugged into a slot of a larger device, much like smart cards.

Here’s the bad news: It’s not targeted toward PCs. However, we hope Intel will eventually make them for PCs, and there are hints the chipmaker could.

The idea of a super-small computer is exciting, and it could solve some problems. For example, computer upgrades could become easier.

The Compute Card is targeted at the commercial market, and it could be slotted into all-in-one devices, digital signs, smart devices, robots, drones, and other products. Businesses will be able to add a whole PC into products that otherwise have minimal computing power.

That very model could be applied to upgrading PCs. The Compute Card could make PC upgrades simple by just plugging the card into a slot into a computer case. You wouldn’t need to go out and buy a whole new PC just to get the latest processors and components.

There are many modular PCs available today in the form of mini-desktops from companies that include Acer and Lenovo. Users can add features by connecting blocks to the desktop. It’s an economic way for PC buyers to get the features they need at a reasonable price.

Intel will start shipping the Compute Card in the middle of this year. The company sees it as a plug-in computer for a plethora of smart devices starting to invade homes and businesses. Potential uses could include smart devices like refrigerators, smart light bulbs, security cameras, and air conditioners. The card could also be used in smart kiosks and internet of things gateways.

Intel is working with companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Sharp to build specialized slots into devices. Many of them are PC makers, and they may try to build the slots into PCs.

The partners will take “advantage of the simplified design, ease of serviceability, and user upgradeability of the Intel Compute Card,” Intel said in a statement.

It won’t be sold directly to consumers and is only available for partners, an Intel spokesman said.

Had this product been released last year’s CES, it could’ve been marketed as a PC. Intel has since put more emphasis on IoT, and it hopes to sell billions of chips that go into smart devices. Intel targets its Atom chips at IoT devices, and this is the first time it is targeting Kaby Lake chips at devices in the emerging IoT category.

Resume:   Computers are becoming more and more powerful and they are essential in our modern life. But despite being satisfied by all this power and speed, engineers all around the world always want more and they just do it. The first article talks about one of the biggest project for China. This project is setup the biggest and most powerful supercomputer on earth. It will be 200 times faster than the first petacomputer! The race is on and it is a really interesting because lot of political rebound could happen. Be able to have access to all of this power could help national research but also life science and national defense. This supercomputer is a key point. Others, like intel think differently about future computer and they just made the smallest computer on the market. In fact it works more like smart cards but it’s a full blown computer, crammed with a 7th Generation Intel Kaby Lake processor, memory, storage, and wireless connectivity. That very model could be applied to upgrading PCs.

Which race do you think is the most justified ?