Linux reigns supreme in the supercomputing realm

jeremy · 07-30-2013, 11:12 AM

Quote:

SUMMARY:
The open-source operating system has pretty much wiped out Unix among top-tier supercomputers, says the Linux Foundation.

In the early days of supercomputing, Unix was the operating system of choice. Remember Unix? Well, it’s been pretty much supplanted in the 500 largest supercomputers, according to the Linux Foundation, admittedly a non-neutral observer which tracks Linux traction in the bi-annual Top500 supercomputer list.

According to Foundation analysis of 20-year’s worth of Top500 lists, to be released Tuesday:

“At last count, all of the top 10 computers and 476 of the total list ran the Linux operating system. After first appearing on the list in 1998, Linux has consistently dominated the top 10 over the past decade and has comprised more than 90 percent of the list since June 2010.”
tweet this

In terms of RMax, the metric used to show how fast a supercomputer can finish the Linpack benchmark calculations used to tabulate the supercomputer performance, Linux leads the pack as well.

In 2004, the sixth year of the list, Linux machines accounted for half of total RMax and ten years in, Linux and Unix share flip-flopped from 96 percent of machines running Unix to 96 percent running Linux.

More at Gigaom...

--jeremy