Development of technology and computer architecture – from 1-processor serial computers to supercomputers
On October 26, 2021 the third lecture of our „Supercomputing in science“ series took place on the premises of the Computational centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences Doc. Šperka, who is also responsible for the Computer museum, showed development of computer architectures and it’s components, such as CPU, GPU and RAM.
Computational power increased thanks to new technologies and innovations in semiconductor device fabrication and enabled doubling the number of components per integrated circuit every two years – this trend is described by the Moore’s law. However, we are now approaching physical limits in this area.
Another way of speeding up calculations is to use parallel approach, supported by today’s supercomputer architectures, including high-speed interconnecting network. Doc. Šperka described the history from the first parallel vector computers and Cray-1 supercomputer up to modern supercomputers.
Lecture series is a joint activity of the Computer museum COO SAS and National Competence Center for HPC. NCC, as the primary contact point for HPC in Slovakia, covers, among other things, educational and dissemination activities in this area.
You can watch the recording of the event on Facebook and YouTube and you can already register for our next lectures. Schedule and registration:
- 10. novembra 2021 o 17:00 – Operation systems in multiprocessor clusters
Dušan Bernát (Faculty of mathematics, physics and informatics, Comenius University) - November 23, 17:00 - Short guide to software parallelization
Jaroslav Suchánek (Biomedical Research Center, SAS) - December 7, 17:00 - Federated distributed computing
Ladislav Hluchý (Institute of Informatics SAS) - December 21, 17:00 - Modelling of 2D systems properties using the Quantum Monte Carlo methods
Ivan Štich (Institute of Physics SAS)
More information about the series
Artificial Intelligence and a Supercomputer as a New Weapon Against Environmental Disasters 26 Mar - Scientists from Nitra, Slovakia are teaching machines to predict industrial failures before they can cause damage. Thanks to collaboration with the European supercomputer LUMI, they have developed a digital “guardian” capable of detecting pipeline leaks or manufacturing faults with high accuracy—helping protect both the environment and companies’ budgets.
The Slovak Recipe for Fair Play and Happier Players 25 Mar - Do you play games on your phone and sometimes feel like the game just doesn’t understand you? Experts from Nitra, Slovakia, have used one of Europe’s most powerful supercomputers to change that. Thanks to the Italian giant named Leonardo, they discovered how to read between the lines of player behavior and make the gaming experience more personal and fair.
Apply for the EUMaster4HPC Summer School 2026 focused on High-Performance Computing. 23 Mar - From 5 to 14 July 2026, the EUMaster4HPC Summer School titled “High-Performance Computing and Emerging Trends” will take place in Luxembourg. The event will be held at the Marienthal Youth Center and the University of Luxembourg in Belval.