Linux is the dominant operating system for supercomputers

Linux remains the dominant operating system for supercomputers.

Linux is the dominant operating system for supercomputers and is present on 500 of the world's fastest machines, according to new research.

The latest TOP500 Supercomputer list shows that the free, open-source operating system is present on all of the world's fastest computers.

This follows on the back of Linux overtaking MacOS in global marketshare recently.

This supercomputing list has been published since the early 1990s, and at the time, Linux was still in the early stages. Many developers resorted to creating their own software.

That's changed over the last few years, however. The attraction of Linux is that it's already a functioning operating system and developers don't need to create their own software for the complex needs of supercomputers.

Supercomputers are used for conducting high-performance tasks, and often, the machines are built as independent projects. Linux means developers can get them up and running quickly.

China leads the supercomputer race, the list shows. The country possesses 202 of the world's fastest computers, while the United States follows with 144.

As well as this, Chinese supercomputers trump American models when it comes to aggregate performance. However, 35.4 per cent of the list's "flops" happen to be chinese, with American models at 29.6 per cent.

"Just six months ago, the US led with 169 systems, with China coming in at 160. Despite the reversal of fortunes, the 143 systems claimed by the US gives them a solid second place finish, with Japan in third place with 35, followed by Germany with 20, France with 18, and the UK with 15," the authors write.

The list's top ten hasn't changed much since last year, with China's 93.1 petaflop Sunway TaihuLight and 33.86 petaflop Tianhe2 machines at the top of the summit. Meanwhile, America's highest entry is the 17.6 petaflop Titan, which occupies the fifth spot.

"Sunway TaihuLight, a system developed by China's National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology (NRCPC), and installed at the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi, maintains its number one ranking for the fourth time, with a High Performance Linpack (HPL) mark of 93.01 petaflops," they explained.

"Tianhe-2 (Milky Way-2), a system developed by China's National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) and deployed at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzho, China, is still the number two system at 33.86 petaflops."

While China leads the list, American companies are responsible for most of the technology that powers the machines. The list claims that 94.2 per cent of the top 500 supercomputers use Intel processors.

"A total of 471 systems, representing 94.2 percent of the total, are now using Intel processors, which is slightly up from 92.8 percent six months ago. The share of IBM Power processors is at 14 systems, down from 21 systems in June," added the authors.

"The number of systems using Gigabit Ethernet is unchanged at 228 systems, in large part thanks to 204 systems now using 10G Ethernet.

"InfiniBand technology is found in 163 systems, down from 178 systems in the previous list, and remains the second most-used system interconnect technology in the list. Intel Omni-Path technology is now in 35 systems, down from 38 six month ago."