Paralleling the last post that enormous computing power is achievable by utilizing multiple machines to solve problems, the latest installment of the Top500 Supercomputer Sites reveals that 75% of the list are cluster computers. Though the machines in the Top500 aren’t generally publicly available, many of the clusters that make up the list are made up of the very same machines you can buy yourself. For example, nine of the top 50 machines on the list are clusters of Dell desktop computers. The Top500 site provides a nice sublist generator, which allows you to search and create your own list from the entire 500. For example, use the generator to find only Cray machines in the list or find how many machines from Norway made the list. In fact, the generator has data as far back as 1993. Give it a try.

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