Former supercomputer king Roadrunner to shut down today

Roadrunner supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

(Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Four years ago, Roadrunner was the world's fastest supercomputer. But it has lost a step on today's speed leaders and will be shut down today in preparation for dismantling.

Created in 2008 to monitor the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, the IBM supercomputer was the first system to break the petaflop barrier, hitting 1.026 petaflops shortly after its installation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. (1 petaflop is equal to a quadrillion, or one thousand trillion, calculations per second.) It would ultimately sit atop of the Top500 supercomputers list three times.

In its five years of operation, the Roadrunner was the "workhorse" behind the National Nuclear Security Administration's Advanced Simulation and Computing program, providing key computer simulations for the Stockpile Stewardship Program.

"Roadrunner exemplified stockpile stewardship: an excellent team integrating complex codes with advanced computing architectures to ensure a safe, secure and effective deterrent," Chris Deeney, NNSA assistant deputy administrator for Stockpile Stewardship, said in a ... [Read more]