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November 1994

The 4th TOP500 list was published at the SC94 Conference in Washington, D.C (November 13-18, 1994).

In 1994 high performance computing in the U.S. has experienced a major transition. With the introduction of powerful new high performance computing field such as the T3D by Cray Research, the SP-2 by IBM, and microprocessor based SMPs (symmetric multiprocessors) such as the SGI Power Challenge and the Exemplar SPP by Convex, there are strong indications that commodity microprocessor based systems are now the mainstream technology for scientific supercomputing. Among existing vendors, Intel's Supercomputing Systems Division and NCube seem to have fallen behind in technology innovation, and both Kendall Square, and Thinking Machines went out of the (hardware) business. The fact that two major players closed their doors in 1994, often has been interpreted as a set-back for parallel systems. I view these events on the contrary as a sign of strength of the market. It is precisely those companies who did not rely on commodity processor technology, who failed; and it is exactly those companies who relied on microprocessors who succeeded in 1994.

Interestingly, while this transition away from vector mainframes is happening the actual demand for MPP systems is declining! In his 1993 study ``High Performance Technical Computing Market Review and Forecast," Chris Willard from IDC considers the following four market segments:

• Supercomputers (parallel vector machines such as Cray Y-MP, C90, Convex C4, NEC SX-3, Fujitsu VPP500)
• High Performance Mainframes (IBM, Amdahl)
• High Performance Midrange (SGI, Convex, DEC, HP, Cray J90)
• Parallel Processors (IBM SP-2, Intel, TMC, KSR)

The TOP500 list clearly demonstrates the dominant position the U.S. assumes in the world both as producer and as consumer of high performance computers.

For more information about the sites and systems in the list, click on the links or view the complete list.