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The fundamental reason why Fangyuan Computer's Tai Chi-ii is so obvious that it is ahead of its competitor Cray-2/8 of its same-term competitor Cray-2/8 is that it is different in supercomputer architecture design.

Simply put, there are essential differences in people's understanding and implementation of "parallel".

This is reflected in the most important computer component, namely the CPU-central processor.

In the period when space-time personal computers were as popular as ordinary home appliances, microprocessors were basically equivalent to CPU. But in fact, the development of CPU was also divided into several stages.

In the early 1970s, three R&D projects became the pioneers of the microprocessor industry overnight, namely Intel's Intel4004, Texas Instruments' TMS1000, and Garrett Iresage's Department of Industry Cadc.

Since the CADC is used in the main flight control computer of the US Navy F-14 Tomcat fighter, it is confidential, so the public only knows that Intel and Texas Instruments are pioneers.

After more than ten years of development, microprocessors have basically entered the 32-bit era, and their performance is far from comparable to the original 4-bit architecture.

However, in this process of great development of IT technology, the CPU implementation solution before microprocessors - discrete transistors and integrated circuit central processors - still have strong vitality, such as the CPU used by Clay's super calculator.

The new era products representing the future are of course impossible to just emerge, and then the autumn wind swept away the leaves and eliminated mature existing products. Discrete transistors and integrated circuit central processors have their own advantages. For example, the operating frequency can reach a very high - 80mhz was achieved as early as the mid-1970s; after entering the 1980s, it exceeded 100mhz; now it has increased to 125mhz.

By parallelizing several such computing components to form a vector processor, it can provide supercomputers with extremely powerful performance at present.

Cray-2/8, which competed with Fangyuan Computer Company Tai Chi-ii, used 4 vector processors. The high computing performance is predictable, but unfortunately it ended up at a disadvantage.

Supercomputers cannot be separated from parallel mechanisms. The power of Fangyuan Computer Company Tai Chi-ii depends on its own unique and advanced parallel mechanism implementation solution - node method.

Through symmetric multiprocessor technology, it combines four highest-end daily sc processors holder-s, as well as corresponding coprocessors, main memory and other components to form an independent computing unit; then uses this as the basic unit and connects the network with a topological structure.

In this way, Tai Chi-ii uses multiple nodes to exceed the vector processor of cray-2/8.

The entire supercomputer is a comprehensive optimized system, such as another obvious shortcoming is the pathway connecting various components.

Traditional cables, a distance of several meters will cause a delay of tens of nanoseconds, so manufacturers are carefully designing the wiring. Tai Chi-ii also introduced the emerging optical fiber communication technology.

Although there are differences in the specific implementation of the products of manufacturers, all supercomputers are large-scale energy consumption users. Take Tai Chi-ii for example, the power exceeds 200 kilowatts. It needs to be equipped with a special power supply system and a cooling system.

The competition for the world's strongest performance computer throne means a competition of creativity, organizational strength, execution and other abilities. The technical competition in it is difficult to explain.

The launch of Tai Chi-ii is just a new beginning.

Tang Huan's focus then shifted to the development and optimization of specific usage links such as operating systems, compilers, application software used by this platform.

After all, he alone has a lot of projects such as computer animation, financial investment models, cancer and HV drug molecular evaluation, etc., waiting for Tai Chi-ii to assist in the analysis.

However, the business world is turbulent and Tang Huan, who is obsessed with technology, is soon pulled back to the real world of endless struggles.

...

After entering 1985, the senior executives of ibm began a new round of handover. The CEO was replaced, and John Opel, who knew Gates' mother and trusted Gates, thus pushing the ibm-pc operating system to Microsoft to complete it, retreated from the position, and his successor was another president, John Ax.

Although he was promoted, John Ax didn't care about his happiness, because the current operating conditions of ibm are not optimistic.

Even though ibm was surpassed by the newcomer Fangyuan Computer Company and snatched the throne of the number one market value, he still maintained his gentlemanly demeanor and sent him congratulations.

After all, Blue Giant is a veteran company of more than 70 years. His history is ten times that of Fangyuan Computer Company. I have never seen anything in the world. I have already tasted the throne with the highest market value. It is only if I can withstand the test of time that I can stand the test of time!

Thinking back then, ibm was even more glorious than the current Fangyuan Computer Company. The extremely successful mainframe system/360 made the market value of Blue Giant reach its peak of US$192.3 billion in 1967, while the GDP of the United States was only US$830 billion at that time.

Although ibm will not really care about these noisy digital comparison games, it must face up to the problems it is facing the current data, including the company's stock price.

After entering the 1980s, the market value of ibm-pc began to rebound strongly from the range of more than 30 billion US dollars and rose to more than 50 billion US dollars, regaining the throne of first place from AT&T.

But success and failure are both Xiao He. ibm's trouble comes from the personal computer business. It not only requires two armies to confront Fangyuan personal computers head-on, but also has to deal with the backstop from the ibm-pc-compatible machine. In the ibm-pc standard camp, at least half of the market share was stolen by the ibm-pc-compatible machine. Moreover, the profits they make have nothing to do with the ibm-pc-first-maker.

Among the manufacturers of ibm-pc compatible machine, the most successful example is Compaq Computer. It first targeted the portable personal computer market that ibm ignored in 1982 and launched paqportable. After a great success, it officially entered the desktop market in 1984 and launched paqdeskpro, and began to compete for business face-to-face with ibm-pc/xt and ibm-pc/at, and has sold hundreds of millions of dollars in products.

How difficult is it to build an ibm-pc compatible machine now?

First of all, after ibm disclosed the ibm-pc specification for free, the only technical barrier left in hand, vos, has been completely broken. Several companies including phoenixtechnologies and awardsoftware have all copied it and become a supplier.

Secondly, after leaving Se EQ, Gordon Campbell held high the banner of "factory-free production" concept and obtained investment from investors from Japan and other fields. He established his own company in Silicon Valley, specializing in developing compatible chips on ibm-pc motherboards. Through optimization, the integration level is higher, which directly reduces the cost.

Finally, the second suppliers of Intel CPU have also launched their own compatible products, which has made ibm's plan to monopolize microprocessors waste. At the same time, Microsoft's operating system, ms-dos, can be copied to you regardless of genuine or compatible machines.

In this way, even an unnamed garage similar to Apple's initial entrepreneurial stage can easily assemble ready-made CPUs, motherboard chips, OS and other components into an ibm-pc-compatible machine, and then take it to the market and sell it at a lower price, and the profit is often higher than that of ibm.

This uncontrollable disorderly competition within the standard camp of ibm-pc directly makes the Blue Giant's own genuine ibm-pc have no advantage in cost-effectiveness.

Feeling the increasingly serious threat, ibm gritted his teeth in hatred, but judging from the current situation, it can only stare at it and cannot come up with an effective response method. Unless it starts again, comes up with a new set of ibm-pc standards, and completely kicks out the current ibm-pc/xt and ibm-pc/at compatible machines.

In addition, after the personal computer business that occupied a lot of money was frustrated, it seriously affected ibm's cash flow, making the financial statements quite ugly, which is also the real reason for management's concerns.

After John Ax took over the position of CEO, he also saw that ibm was vaguely starting to decline. Last year, the company's total revenue increased by only 1%, and profits fell instead of rising.

Combining these situations, John Ax and the board of directors were a little nervous and had to hold a meeting to discuss. At least we should come up with a way to prevent the company's cash flow statement data from being so bad.

Before entering this issue, the meeting first announced two personnel transfers, entrysystemsdivi private-entry-systems-input system department, namely ESD, which is the original ibm-pc department. Its current president Don Estelic was transferred to the vice president of ibm's global manufacturing business department. The vacant position was taken over by Bill Lovo, who originally launched the "chess program".

Don Estelic, who looked promoted, had a serious face and no joy at all. He knew very well that due to the bad situation in the personal computer business, he had lost the trust of the board of directors. This position transfer was actually a reduction of power from the open and secretly.

I have to say that the ibm, which has not yet been cancelled for life-long employment, is still very humane. I miss Don Estelic's great contribution to leading and founding ibm-pc, and did not let him be directly responsible, but adopted a tactful method of exile.

In the speech session after accepting the appointment, Don Estelish carefully summarized some obvious mistakes in his office, such as the failure of the ibm-pc/jr model, the use of a lot of cash to hoard Intel's Intel80286, etc.

In fact, although personal computers are born as individuals and families, their true success depends on commercial use. With this small box with good cost performance, the threshold for companies to obtain IT solutions has suddenly become lower.

Of course, the slogan of popularizing personal computers to every family is still shouted very loudly in the industry and trying to achieve this goal in the form of cheap personal computers.

After successfully launching ibm-pc/xt, Don Esteledge was moved by the idea of ​​a new chief designer Bill Sydney's goal of a family and launched ibm-pc/jr.

As a result, this so-called cheap model, which costs $1,500, sold only more than 10,000 units, was eliminated in a disastrous defeat without any suspense.

In short, ibm, the big stupid elephant, has no talent for cheap products at all. Its business direction is still high-end fields with high technical content.

Don Estelic really has nothing to justify about this mistake.

Since the launch of ibm-pc/AT equipped with Intel80286 microprocessor was later than that of its competitor's third-generation Fangyuan personal computer, Don Estelic decided to buy all Intel80286, which was exclusively provided by the supply source at that time, and used the method of cutting off the fire from the bottom of the pot to snipe the third-generation Fangyuan personal computer that gained the first-mover advantage.

At the beginning, this trick worked well. Fangyuan Computer Company had to use the high-end mc68000 series models of the third generation Fangyuan personal computers to lose money and reduce prices to face the challenge. The ibm-pc/AT that entered the market was progressing well.

But unexpectedly, ibm-pc/at also had quality problems like the third generation Fangyuan personal computer. The hard drive was thrown away a tugboat. As a result, the painstaking plan was lost. In addition, the second supplier of Intel80286 launched compatible products one after another. The third generation Fangyuan personal computer quickly overcomes the difficulties, and even the ibm-pc compatible machine has the opportunity to catch up.

This mistake made Don Estelic feel that God was playing an expensive joke with him, helpless and powerless.

Don Estelic's sincere attitude was praised by the board of directors, and it also meant that the personnel transfer was completed very smoothly.

After Bill Lovo, who was highly anticipated, made a brief speech with caution, John Ax spoke, "The company's cash flow needs to be improved urgently. If you have any suggestions, please tell me."

Someone quickly responded: "Don't our investment department hold 20% of Intel's shares. This company, which mainly focuses on memory business, has been deeply affected by the dumping of Japanese semiconductor companies' products recently. The prospects are difficult to predict. It is better to cash out as soon as possible and at least recover 400 million US dollars."

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Chapter completed!