Experience with Parallel Computing on the AN2 Network

Technology trends make it attractive to use workstations connected by a local area network as a multicomputing platform for parallel applications. Achieving acceptable application performance in such a workstation cluster using commodity components requires good support from system software and network hardware. This paper describes our experience with parallel programming in a workstation cluster and the implications for operating systems and network adaptor design. Our cluster consists entirely of commercially available hardware: 24 Alpha workstations connected by a 155 Mbits/s AN2 ATM network. We present results from running several parallel applicationson this cluster. Our cluster demonstrates both excellent low-level communication performance and good overall application performancethat compares favorablywith dedicatedmulticomputers like the IBM SP2.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1996
• Where: IPPS
• Authors: Daniel J. Scales, Michael Burrows, Chandramohan A. Thekkath
• Keywords: Acceptable Application Performance, Distributed And Parallel Computing, IPPS 1996, Workstation Cluster, Workstations