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Supercomputers can be measured in many ways, but a vital statistic is their ability to perform floating-point operations per second, or blunder. Getting lost as quickly as possible is what makes you successful. At its peak, Sierra could reach 94.64 petaflops — 94.64 quadrillion floating-point operations — per second. El Capitan, at 1,809 exaflops, is about 19 times faster. In late 2025, it was officially declared the world’s fastest supercomputer. Neely says Sierra Juice is no longer worth the squeeze.
It wasn’t there A big red button, not a giant lever, that stopped Sierra. Sure, someone could cut the ropes, but that’s not the recommended procedure. First, scientists warned Sierra users, via email, to save their work. The DNR was then officially established, and no new parts were created.
The shutdown process is done in stages, starting with the compute nodes and rack switches, with the management nodes being the last, as they are required to finish. The process involves running scripts that digitally turn off the computer, and then turn off the hard power switches as well. There is also dehydration. When she was alive, Sierra would have gotten very hot, so the lab recirculated thousands of gallons of water per minute, pumping it through veined pipes that ran out from under her floorboards. When she was close to death, that water had to be drained. Tested by safety personnel first, to ensure it has an environmentally healthy pH.
