BIG MAC (SUPERCOMPUTER)

The "Big Mac" or Terascale Cluster is a supercomputer assembled in 2003 by U.S university Virginia Tech under the supervision of Dr. Srinidhi Varadarajan.

The "Big Mac" is a cluster of 1,100 dual-processor Apple G5 Power Macintosh computers. It is notable for its relatively low cost of just over 5 million dollars and high power (9.55 teraflops) as well as its short build time of about six months. The Terascale Cluster has a good price-performance ratio. It falls only behind Japan's Earth Simulator (35.8 teraflops) and the ASCI Q supercomputer (13.8 teraflops) in raw power.

Srinidhi Varadarajan believes that further tuning could boost performance by another 10 percent.

External Links

• Jack Dongarra's TOP500 List of World's Fastest Supercomputers
• Mac cluster rises in supercomputing ranks
• Mac Supercomputer Joins Elite