K Computer : The world's fastest super computer from Japan

Top 500 supercomputers list is revised every year in June and November by researchers at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the University of Mannheim in Germany. Supercomputers which are enlisted in this category are used for an array of tasks such as weather forecasting, high-speed stock trading, and simulating weapons tests because of their massive processing power.

This June, the top 5 super computers are :

• K Computer      (Japan)
• Tianhe-1A         (China)
• Jaguar               (USA)
• Pleiades             (USA)
• Tera-100            (France)

6 months back, Tinahe-1A (presently at no. 2) was the fastest computer but K Computer from Japan has become the new no. 1 in world's top supercomputers. This advanced supercomputer is three times faster than the second fastest supercomputer and more powerful than the next five supercomputers on the list combined.

The K computer, built by Fujitsu, has 68,544 central processing units, each with eight cores. That's twice as many as any other supercomputer on the Top 500. The name K computer comes from the Japanese word "KEI" which means ten quadrillions and this amazing supercomputer is capable of performing more than 8 quadrillion calculations per second.

The K Computer comprises of more than 800 computer racks and it is used at the Riken Institute for Physical and Chemical Research in Kobe, Japan. This is the first time since 2004 that Japan had held the top supercomputer on the list.