Super Computers

China has now got the fastest computer on the planet according to the top 500 list.

These super computers are custom built to allow organisations to carry out research that requires a large amount of maths. They often cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and are well used. However, there is another way to create a super computer on the cheap and that is called clustering. A cluster is a network of computers that share processing between them. Software (often free) allows clusters to be created by home and school users. There is even a competition to find the best one, here is view of what is like to compete.