From HPCwire article: IBM Maintains Top Spot on Supercomputer List

November 17, 2008

IBM Maintains Top Spot on Supercomputer List

ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 17 — For a record-setting ninth consecutive time, an IBM system took the No.1 spot in the ranking of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. The IBM computer built for the “roadrunner project” at Los Alamos National Lab — the first in the world to operate at speeds faster than one quadrillion calculations per second (petaflop) in June 2008 — remains the world speed champion.
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IBM is also leading the move to design all-new hybrid systems — such as the roadrunner project — that combine different types of processors for better performance and energy efficiency. IBM is currently building a 360-teraflop hybrid cluster for the University of Toronto, for example, a deal which will pair one of the world’s largest Power6 clusters with IBM’s new iDataPlex platform (x86) to create an extremely flexible 4000-node supercomputer capable of running a diverse range of software at high levels of performance. Starting in 2009, Canadian scientists plan to use the system to create new methods of medical imaging, among other uses. Part way through installation, the computer has already debuted at No.53 on the new TOP500.