Top 500: 85 Percent of all Super Computers Runs on Linux
The Top 500 Super Computer statistics offers a completely different view of market domination in IT: 85 percent of the world’s most powerful computers uses Linux as its operating system; Windows is way down accounting for just 1.2 percent.
The top500.org website evaluates high performance machines along various criteria and ranks them in order of performance. Based on the current Top500 list, dating from November 2007, 426 super computers use the Linux operating system, whereas only six run on Windows. Unix is second at six percent and is installed on 30 of the top 500 machines.
This is an improvement for both Linux and Windows over the June 2007 figures: just six months previously, the free operating system accounted for a “mere” 77.8 percent, with just two machines running on Windows. The list is updated every six months, and provides a mass of additional information such as the location of the computers, applications, architectures and processors. Users can click to compile more statistics. For example, you can discover that more than half the machines are located in the USA: the largest (known) user group is the finance sector, which accounts for 14.4 percent, and Skalar is the main processor architecture with 99.2 percent, frequently on Intel EM64T at 64 percent. IBM sold 46.2 percent of the machines, followed by HP at 33.2 percent.
A team of scientists led by Professor Hans Meuer from the University of Mannheim introduced the list of the top 500 super computers back in 1993 in cooperation with vendors, generally available statistics and user surveys. The list puts the machines in order of performance, as ascertained by the LINPACK benchmark. This high performance computer benchmark asks the computers to calculate a system of linear equations. According to the authors this test is widespread in the HPC category and available for more or less any system.
netlib.org, a website for mathematical software, databases and documents provides detailed information on the benchmark test and the latest LINPACK Report.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
The GNU Project Celebrates Its 40th Birthday
September 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the GNU Project, and it was celebrated with a hacker meeting in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
-
Linux Kernel Reducing Long-Term Support
LTS support for the Linux kernel is about to undergo some serious changes that will have a considerable impact on the future.
-
Fedora 39 Beta Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.