TOP500 - Past, Present, Future
SessionInvited Talks 2
Presenters
Event Type
Invited Talk
TimeTuesday, November 14th4:15pm -
5pm
LocationMile High Ballroom
DescriptionThe TOP500 list (www.top500.org) has served as the
de fining yardstick for supercomputing performance since
1993. Published twice a year, it compiles the world’s
500 largest installations and some of their main
characteristics. Systems are ranked according to their
performance of the Linpack benchmark, which solves a
dense system of linear equations. Over time, the data
collected for the list has enabled the early
identification and quantification of many important
technological and architectural trends related to
high-performance computing. We briefly describe the
project’s origins, the principles guiding data
collection, and what has made the list so successful
during the 25 year long transition from giga- to tera-
to petascale computing. We also examine the list’s
limitations. The TOP500’s simplicity has invited many
criticisms, and we consider several complementary or
competing projects that have tried to address these
concerns. Finally, we explore several emerging trends
and reflect on the list’s potential usefulness for
guiding large-scale HPC into the exascale era.
