The Futisu FX1 server rack. Source: Betanews.com

It’s called the Fujitsu FX1, and started work for the Japan Aerospace Explorations Agency on Wednesday.

Comprising of 3,008 nodes, each with its own personal Sparc64 VII quad-core processor, and 94 terabytes of memory it truly is a beastly machine. It’s not the impressive speed that makes this supercomputer so special however, despite being “15 times faster” than the previous supercomputer the Japan Aerospace Explorations Agency used.

The theoretical peak performance of the FX1 is 120 teraflops. Whilst running the Linpack benchmark, the FX1 achieved a peak performance of 110.6 teraflops, which means 91.2% of its theoretical performance – a feat of efficiency nobody has managed to reach before.  Fujitsu claims this is result was possible thanks to a combination of improving technology, the skill of its builders and a special middleware that keeps the hardware and software communicating effectively.

The FX1 will be used to run simulations of satellites being launched into space, in order to improve and test insulation methods to stop the satellite from being literally vibrated to pieces before reaching orbit.