Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Supercomputers are the fastest and most expensive computer systems.

Actually, supercomputer specifications keep expanding as processing power increases. In addition, many "off-the-shelf" multiprocessor and parallel-processing systems sold today perform at yesterday's supercomputer speeds. Supercomputers are generally designed for special applications (e.g., predicting weather or modeling of nuclear weapons explosions). They are usually owned by governments, academic institutions, research groups, and companies with special analytical requirements such as Celera Genomics, which mapped the human genome.