Tianhe-2

Tianhe-2
Name	Tianhe-2
Active	2013–present
Location	National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou
Architect	National University of Defense Technology
Manufacturer	Inspur
Purpose	Scientific research
Operating system	Kylin
Power	17.8 MW
Speed	33.86 petaFLOPS (peak)
Ranking	1st (TOP500, June 2013 – November 2015)

Tianhe-2. Also known by the English translation **Milky Way-2**, it is a supercomputer developed by the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in Changsha, China. The system was deployed at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou and achieved the number one position on the TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers for three consecutive years. It is designed for large-scale scientific computing projects in fields such as atmospheric science, bioinformatics, and computational fluid dynamics.

Overview

The system represents a major achievement in China's indigenous high-performance computing capabilities, marking a significant milestone in the global supercomputing race. Its development was overseen by a team led by computer scientist Lu Yutong at the National University of Defense Technology. The installation at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou solidified the city's status as a major hub for computational science in South China. Initial operations focused on serving research institutions across the country, including projects affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Development and history

The project to build Tianhe-2 was initiated by the National University of Defense Technology following the success of its predecessor, Tianhe-1A. Major development work occurred between 2011 and 2013, with significant funding and support from the Chinese government under national high-tech initiatives. The system was officially unveiled in June 2013, immediately claiming the top spot on the TOP500 list released at the International Supercomputing Conference in Leipzig. In 2015, the United States Department of Commerce placed the National University of Defense Technology on an export restrictions list, citing national security concerns related to its use of Intel Xeon processors and its potential applications.

Hardware and architecture

The supercomputer utilizes a hybrid architecture, combining traditional central processing units with many-core co-processors. Its compute nodes are built around two 12-core Intel Xeon Ivy Bridge processors and three Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor cards. The system originally incorporated over 16,000 compute nodes, interconnected via a proprietary high-speed network called TH Express-2. This network was developed by the National University of Defense Technology to minimize latency. The entire system is housed in over 170 cabinets and requires a substantial cooling infrastructure, with a total power draw of approximately 17.8 megawatts.

Software and operating system

Tianhe-2 runs a customized version of the Linux-based Kylin operating system, which was developed for security and stability in high-performance computing environments. The system software stack includes optimized Message Passing Interface libraries to manage parallel computations across its hundreds of thousands of cores. Compilers from Intel, such as the Intel C++ Compiler, are heavily utilized to extract performance from the Xeon and Xeon Phi hardware. Researchers access the machine through a suite of job scheduling and management tools designed for large-scale scientific computing workloads.

Performance and rankings

In its June 2013 debut, Tianhe-2 achieved a performance of 33.86 petaFLOPS on the LINPACK benchmark, securing first place on the TOP500 list. It maintained this top ranking through six consecutive list publications until it was surpassed by Sunway TaihuLight in June 2016. The system also performed strongly on other benchmarks, such as the Graph500 list for data-intensive computing. Its sustained performance on real-world applications for the National Supercomputing Center in Guangzhou demonstrated its capabilities beyond theoretical peak measurements.

Applications and research

The computational power of Tianhe-2 has been applied to a vast array of national research projects. Major application areas include earth system modeling for climate prediction, aerospace engineering simulations for aircraft design, and molecular dynamics for new materials discovery. It has been used for large-scale genome sequencing analysis in collaboration with institutions like the Beijing Genomics Institute. Furthermore, the system has supported government initiatives in urban planning for megacities and complex simulations in the field of computational astrophysics.

Category:Supercomputers Category:Science and technology in China Category:Computer-related introductions in 2013