NCAR supercomputing history

Wide view of the CDC3600 supercomputer — **Browse the table below** for information about individual supercomputers, including the CDC 3600 system pictured here. You can also take **this 14-minute walking tour** to see what the Mesa Lab computer room looked like in 1992 and to learn more about NCAR's history.

NCAR has long been at the forefront of supercomputer use and development, from 1963 to the present. The current system, Derecho, is the third supercomputer CISL has operated at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The first was named Yellowstone in 2012, and the second was named Cheyenne in 2017. Some details from the most recent procurements are available via the menu to your right. Others can be found in the NCAR/UCAR archives.

Browse through the history of supercomputing

Choose a link in the first column to get more information about a system.

Title	Nickname*	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Clock Speed	Number of Processors	Memory (terabytes)	Peak Teraflops	Power Consumption	Manufacturer
CDC 3600		11/01/1963	04/29/1966	0.001GHz	1	0.0000	0.000001		Control Data Corporation
CDC 6600		12/30/1965	05/20/1977	0.010GHz	1	0.0000	0.000001		Control Data Corporation
CDC 7600		05/03/1971	04/01/1983	0.036GHz	1	0.0000	0.000036		Control Data Corporation
CRI Cray-1A S/N 3	C1	07/11/1977	02/01/1989	0.080GHz	1	0.0000	0.000160	115.00	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray-1A S/N 14	CA	05/02/1983	10/01/1986	0.080GHz	1	0.0000	0.000160	115.00	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray X-MP	CX	10/01/1986	09/30/1990	0.118GHz	4	0.0001	0.000941		Cray Research, Inc.
Connection Machine 2	capitol	09/01/1988	04/01/1993	0.007GHz	8,192	0.0010	0.007168		Thinking Machines
CRI Cray Y-MP8	shavano	05/21/1990	06/30/1997	0.167GHz	0	0.0005	0.002667	120.00	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray Y-MP2	castle	07/16/1991	09/01/1994	0.167GHz	2	0.0005	0.000667		Cray Research, Inc.
IBM RS/6000 cluster	arapahoe, comanche, navaho, chief	02/01/1992	09/01/1997	0.066GHz	4	0.0005	0.000530		IBM
Connection Machine 5	littlebear	03/01/1993	11/01/1996	0.032GHz	32	0.0010	0.004100		Thinking Machines
IBM 9076 SP1	wildhorse	08/01/1993	09/01/1995	0.062GHz	8	0.001	0.001990		IBM
CCC Cray-3	graywolf	10/01/1993	03/25/1995	0.500GHz	4	0.0010	0.004000	90.00	Cray Computer Corporation
CRI Y-MP8I	antero	06/01/1994	12/01/1996	0.167GHz	8	0.0005	0.002670		Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray T3D	t3d	07/01/1994	06/01/1999	0.150GHz	128	0.0080	0.019200	41.40	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray J90	aztec	10/01/1995	06/30/2000	0.100GHz	20	0.0010	0.004000	7.00	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray J90	paiute	10/01/1995	06/30/2000	0.100GHz	16	0.0005	0.003200	7.00	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray C90	antero2	01/01/1997	11/30/1999	0.244GHz	16	0.0010	0.015610	493.50	Cray Research, Inc.
CRI Cray J90se	ouray	01/01/1997	11/30/2001	0.100GHz	24	0.0010	0.004800	7.50	Cray Research, Inc.
HP Exemplar	sioux	05/01/1997	05/14/1999	0.180GHz	64	0.0080	0.046080	25.00	Hewlett-Packard
CRI Cray J90se	chipeta	03/01/1998	09/03/2002	0.100GHz	24	0.0010	0.004800	7.50	Cray Research, Inc.
SGI Origin 2000	ute	06/01/1998	07/15/2002	0.250GHz	128	0.0160	0.064000	51.10	SGI
SGI Origin 2000	dataproc	04/14/1999	09/30/2004	0.250GHz	16	0.0160	0.008000	8.00	SGI
IBM SP	babyblue	06/18/1999	01/10/2005	0.375GHz	64	0.0640	0.096000	7.00	IBM
IBM SP	blackforest	08/11/1999	01/10/2005	0.375GHz	1,308	0.7020	1.962000	140.00	IBM
Compaq ES40	prospect	11/01/1999	02/19/2002	0.500GHz	32	0.0080	0.032000	9.50	Compaq
IBM p690	bluedawn	01/09/2002	01/17/2007	1.100GHz	16	0.0320	0.070400	6.50	IBM
SGI Origin3800	chinook	07/15/2002	08/31/2004	0.500GHz	128	0.2560	0.128000	15.00	SGI
IBM p690	bluesky	10/31/2002	03/05/2007	1.300GHz	1,600	3.3280	8.320000	415.00	IBM
IBM p690	thunder	10/02/2003	11/30/2007	1.300GHz	64	0.1280	0.332800	15.50	IBM
IBM Linux Cluster	lightning	07/12/2004	12/04/2009	2.200GHz	260	0.5280	1.144000	48.00	IBM
SGI Origin3800/128	tempest	09/01/2004	04/23/2008	0.500GHz	128	0.2560	0.128000	15.00	SGI
IBM Linux Cluster	pegasus	01/31/2005	11/30/2008	2.200GHz	132	0.2720	0.580800	28.00	IBM
IBM BlueGene/L	frost	03/15/2005	05/31/2012	0.700GHz	8,192	4.1943	22.937600	83.10	IBM
Aspen Nocona	coral	08/16/2005	09/24/2010	3.200GHz	44	0.0960	0.563200	8.00	Aspen Systems
IBM p5-p575	bluevista	08/27/2005	09/29/2008	1.900GHz	624	1.2480	4.742400	210.60	IBM
IBM p5+-p575	blueice	10/26/2006	06/16/2008	1.900GHz	1,696	4.8320	13.312000	325.40	IBM
IBM p6-p575	bluefire	04/24/2008	01/31/2013	4.700GHz	4,096	12.2240	77.004800	538.20	IBM
IBM p6-p575	firefly	08/13/2008	01/31/2013	4.700GHz	192	0.8960	3.609600	29.00	IBM
Cray XT5m	lynx	04/26/2010	10/01/2013	2.200GHz	912	1.2960	8.129600	35.00	Cray, Inc.
IBM iDataPlex/FDR-IB	yellowstone	06/04/2012	12/30/2017	2.600GHz	72,576	145.1520	1,509.580800	1,165.00	IBM
Geyser & Caldera	geyser caldera	2012	2017
HPE SGI ICE XA	cheyenne	01/12/2017	12/31/2023	2.3 GHz	145,152	313.344	5,340	1,700	HPE/SGI

* Supercomputer names are often used in login commands and other situations, so they are typically entered as one word and lower-case letters. Even when their formal names are capitalized and sometimes two words instead of just one, like Black Forest and Little Bear, they’re used as blackforest and littlebear. As smart as they are, supercomputers need to know where parts of commands start and end, and a space in the name is a problem.