Lengau: The Fastest Computer In Africa
There’s no animal on the planet faster than the cheetah. The cheetah can reach speeds of 120km an hour, the national speed limit on main roads in South Africa. Lengau means ‘cheetah’ in Setswana, a perfect reflection of speed and now the name of the fastest super-computer on the continent. Lengau doesn’t just reflect the computer’s speed but is also an embodiment of African (and South African) pride.
What is the Lengau Super Computer
Lengau was built by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) at its Centre for High-Performance Computing in Cape Town. Running at speeds of 1000 teraflops means that the computer leaves all other high-performance machines in its shadow. The computer serves the needs of the scientific community, and being the subject of research itself, it will assist academics and researchers with regards to future studies. What makes the computer important is that it allows South Africans to harbour and extract information from a vast source of data at speeds that have never been experienced in Africa before. As telecommunication data forms the backbone of modern communication, Lengau puts the country on an even plateau with regards to the rest of the globe.
What Does Lengau Mean for the World of ICT and Telecommunications?
With limited resources even here in South Africa, the building of the computer was not made simply for boasting purposes. It actually performs a necessary service for the telecommunications and IT community. It serves a particular need among users who require the speeds at which Lengau performs. A few technicalities; the computer can store up to 5 petabytes of information and has a connectivity speed of 56 GB/s.
The computer has already served in fields involving African astrology, biometrics, material science and climate studies, performing above and beyond the requirements of the users. While public and non-political institutions have made full use of the computer, businesses also have access to the technology, and contacting CSIR would be a business’s first step in joining Lengau’s long waiting list of users. The progress that Lengau may lend to the development of telecommunications in South Africa is far-reaching, and we all look forward to the research outcomes delivered by Lengau.
If the super-computer is an inspiration to your pursuit of a postgraduate research degree in ICT and other forms of communication technology, then make sure you contact Vaal University of Technology today and sign up for a research course at our institution.