Nine years after it was first switched on, ASCI Red is still one of the top 500 supercomputers in the world. ASCI Red was the nucleus of Advanced Simulation and Computing Program at Sandia National Nuclear Security Administration where it had the role to provide analysis on nuclear weapons and materials in order to manage the US nuclear arsenal, making obsolete underground tests.

In 1996 ASCI Red became the world's fastest supercomputer topping LINPAC top-500. Furthermore, this is the first supercomputer that broke the teraflop barrier, meaning it processed more than a trillion mathematical operations per second. With successive upgrades, ASCI Red broke seven more times the record for the world's fastest supercomputer from 1997 and 2000.

"It was almost mystical in scalability," said Sandia director, Rob Leland. "All these other machines would be tailing off and Red would still be cruising along. "I remember, shortly after the teraflops barrier was broken, I would say to myself as I drove by in my car: the world's fastest computer is sitting in that nondescript building [in Beaverton, Oregon, before it was moved to Sandia]. It gave me tremendous satisfaction. When Chuck Yeager cracked the sound barrier or Armstrong landed on the moon, I wonder if they had the same feeling. It is with great fondness that we say goodbye to ASCI Red. It's been a great run and we'll never forget it."