Jack Dongarra, who helped create Linpack and now maintains the Top500, admitted during a discussion about the latest results of the Top500 at SC12 that Linpack does not measure all aspects of a computer's performance. He pointed to projects like Graph 500, the Green500 and the HPC Challenge that measure other aspects of supercomputer performance.
At least one system, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications' Blue Waters, was not entered in the Top500, because its keepers did not feel Linpack would adequately convey the true power of the machine.
Supercomputers are built according to the jobs they will execute, not to an arbitrary benchmark, Bader pointed out.
"At the end of the day, you are going to want the machine that does best for your workload," Bader said.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com
