Science made simple: What is Exascale Computing?

The next milestone in the evolution of supercomputers is exascale computing. Exascale computers can process information faster than the most powerful supercomputers today. This will allow scientists to address some of humanity’s greatest challenges, such as climate change, understanding cancer, and designing new materials.

Exascale computers can be described as digital computers similar to supercomputers and computers today, but with more powerful hardware. How does exascale computing stack up against other computers? The floating point operations per second (FLOPS) is one-way scientists can measure computer performance. These operations involve basic arithmetic, such as addition and multiplication. A person can solve addition problems using pen and paper at a rate of 1 FLOP. It takes one second to solve a simple addition problem. Computers can do things much faster than humans. Because computers have so many zeros in FLOPS, researchers use prefixes instead. The prefix “Giga” refers to a number that has nine zeros. Modern personal computers can run in the gigaflop range at approximately 150,000,000,000 FLOPS or 150 gigaFLOPS. “Tera” means 12 zeros. The Department of Energy’s Intel ASCI Red supercomputer reached the terascale milestone in 1996. ASCI Red reached its peak performance of 1,340,000,000,000 FLOPS or 1.34 TeraFLOPS.

Exascale computing can be unimaginably faster than this. “Exa” means 18 zeros. That means an exascale computer can perform more than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 FLOPS, or 1 exaFLOP. This is over one million times faster than ASCI Red’s peak performance of 1996.

It is not easy to build a computer with this power. Scientists began to think seriously about exascale computers when they realized that these computers would require as much energy as 50 homes. Thanks to the ongoing research of computer vendors, this number has been reduced. Scientists must find ways to make exascale computers reliable despite their many components. They must also find ways to transfer data quickly between storage and processors to avoid slowdowns.

Why do we need exascale computers? More computing is needed to tackle the world’s most difficult problems and complex scientific research questions. Scientists can create a more realistic climate model and Earth system with the help of supercomputers at large scales. They will aid researchers in understanding the nanoscience behind novel materials. Future Fusion power plants will be built using Exascale computers. They will be used to power new studies on the universe. These include everything from particle physics to star formation. These computers will support tasks such as the maintenance and repair of the nuclear deterrent.

Quick Facts

  • Watch this video to see an exascale-powered COVID simulation.
  • NVIDIA.
  • Since the 1940s, computers have seen a steady increase in their performance.
  • The Colossus vacuum tube computer is the first electronic computer. Colossus was built in Britain during World War II and ran at 500,000 FLOPS.
  • 1964’s CDC 6600 was the first supercomputer to have 3 megaFLOPS.
  • Cray-2, a supercomputer that reached over 1 gigaFLOP in 1985, was the first to achieve this feat.
  • ASCI Red was the first computer to reach over a TeraFLOP in 1996.
  • Roadrunner 2008: The first supercomputer to achieve 1 petaFLOP

DOE Contributions to Exascale Computing

For decades, the Department of Energy’s Office of Science’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research Program has collaborated with U.S. technology firms to create supercomputers that can break down barriers in scientific discovery. DOE Office of Science user facilities is located at Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories. These facilities allow scientists to access computing resources based on their research. The Office of Science (OSU) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration(NNSA) co-led the DOE’s Exascale Computing Initiative. It was established in 2016 to speed up the development of an exascale computing environment. The Exascale Computer Project is one of the components. It has a seven-year duration.

. This project is designed to prepare scientists and computing facilities for exascale. It is focused on three main areas:

  • Application Development: Building applications that fully take advantage of exascale computers.
  • Software Technology is the development of new tools to manage systems, handle large amounts of data and integrate future computers with existing systems.
  • Hardware and Integration: Establishing partnerships to create new components and standards. To ensure these tools work, continuous testing is also conducted at national laboratories and other facilities.