Super Computers vs Modern Computers

A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second(MIPS). Supercomputers have certain distinguishing features. Unlike conventional computers, they usually have more than one CPU (central processing unit), which contains circuits for interpreting program instructions and executing arithmetic and logic operations in proper sequence. The use of several CPUs to achieve high computational rates is necessitated by the physical limits of circuit technology. Electronic signals cannot travel faster than the speed of light, which thus constitutes a fundamental speed limit for signal transmission and circuit switching.

Supercomputing or High-Performance Computing plays ever more important roles in industrial fields as well as in basic research. Based upon the history of supercomputers in the last few decades, a personal view of supercomputing in the first decade of the 21st century is presented. A supercomputer is any mechanism whose performance capability, either by design or by default, enables it to compete effectively or otherwise in the market for functionality and information. There have been times throughout history where handfuls of spare processors, cobbled together with homemade substrates, produced supercomputers. And because they were super, they qualified. A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Modern computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks. A computer system is a "complete" computer that includes the hardware, operating system, and peripheral equipment needed and used for "full" operation.