Supercomputers are computing systems with high processing capacity. They can perform far more operations per second compared to ordinary computers. They are used in areas requiring high processing power, such as scientific research, engineering simulations, weather forecasts, climate modeling, and biological analyses.

History

The development of supercomputers dates back to the 1960s. In 1964, the CDC 6600 was introduced as the fastest computer of its time. It was three times faster than the IBM 7030 Stretch. Subsequent systems increased the number of processors, developed parallel processing architectures, and implemented special cooling solutions. With the advancement of technology, performance has reached teraflop (10¹²), petaflop (10¹⁵), and currently exaflop (10¹⁸) levels.

^{An Image of a Supercomputer (Generated by Artificial Intelligence)}

Technical Specifications

Supercomputers typically house thousands of processor cores. Thanks to parallel processing capacity, large datasets can be analyzed simultaneously. Memory architectures, data buses, and network infrastructures are designed based on high bandwidth and low latency. Cooling systems are specially designed. Their performance is generally measured in FLOPS.

Areas of Use

• Weather and climate modeling
• Astrophysics and space simulations
• Molecular modeling and drug development
• Genome sequencing and bioinformatics
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning applications
• Engineering simulations
• Nuclear energy and particle physics studies

Difference from Quantum Computers

Supercomputers are based on the classical computing model and process data in a binary system. Quantum computers, on the other hand, operate using quantum mechanics principles such as superposition and entanglement by utilizing quantum bits (qubits). Quantum computers can offer higher processing efficiency in some special algorithms. However, supercomputers are used for more widespread and stable computations. Quantum computers are still limited in terms of general-purpose use. Quantum computers are still limited in terms of general-purpose use. Quantum computers calculate all probabilities that can be between 0 and 1.

Supercomputer Development in Türkiye

In Türkiye, efforts to develop high-performance computing infrastructure gained momentum in the 2000s. The National High-Performance Computing Center (UYBHM), established within Istanbul Technical University, is one example in this field. Türkiye's supercomputer infrastructure has also been developed through various projects supported by TÜBİTAK. Türkiye's most advanced computer, the Turkish National Science e-Infrastructure (TRUBA), was put into service in early 2024.

Energy Consumption and Environmental Impacts

Supercomputer systems have high energy consumption. As the number of processors and processing volume increases, so does the energy demand. Cooling systems are also a factor affecting this consumption. This situation has led to the evaluation of the environmental impacts of computing infrastructures.

Security and Military Applications

Supercomputers are also used in cryptography, military simulations, and defense technologies. In some countries, these systems are operated on closed-circuit infrastructures for national security purposes. Such applications increase the strategic importance of supercomputers.

Future Directions

The future of supercomputer technology is expected to move towards hybrid systems. In these systems, classical and quantum computing approaches can be considered together. In addition, research into energy-efficient system designs is ongoing.