Performance measurement and analysis of PC based cluster server using SET of Architecture and modeling a scalable High performance cluster

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Storage Area Networks (SANs) in Business Environment

Storage Area Networks (SAN) in Business Environment is titled and initiated to design and implement Storage Area Networks architecture in the business operation. The project is divided into two terms, first is the research ofStorage Area Networks and the second is system development onthe Storage Area Networks Knowledge Management System. Research on the Storage Area Networks was based on the problem statement and objective of the project while the Storage Area Networks Knowledge Management System is the system in making decision to implement Storage Area Networks. The project will require a hybrid model for System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) methodology. Reviews on the system will be made according to the SDLC and the objectives of the project. Artificial Intelligent module is used for the Storage Area Networks system to determine the best Storage Area Networks solution for the business. Research will be more onthe implementation of the Storage Area Networks in the business based onthe cost, availability and the architecture of the Storage Area Networks. Advantages of the Storage Area Networks and several criteria inthe Storage Area Networks will be part of the Storage Area Networks research. Storage Area Networks give the best solution for business as the database is an important asset for the business. Performance, availability, flexibility and scalability are the main subject in considering Storage Area Networks. Keywords: Storage Area Networks, Knowledge Management System, hybrid model. System Development Life Cycl

Optimizing message-passing performance within symmetric multiprocessor systems

The Message Passing Interface (MPI) has been widely used in the area of parallel computing due to its portability, scalability, and ease of use. Message passing within Symmetric Multiprocessor (SMP) systems is an import part of any MPI library since it enables parallel programs to run efficiently on SMP systems, or clusters of SMP systems when combined with other ways of communication such as TCP/IP. Most message-passing implementations use a shared memory pool as an intermediate buffer to hold messages, some lock mechanisms to protect the pool, and some synchronization mechanism for coordinating the processes. However, the performance varies significantly depending on how these are implemented. The work here implements two SMP message-passing modules using lock-based and lock-free approaches for MPLi̲te, a compact library that implements a subset of the most commonly used MPI functions. Various optimization techniques have been used to optimize the performance. These two modules are evaluated using a communication performance analysis tool called NetPIPE, and compared with the implementations of other MPI libraries such as MPICH, MPICH2, LAM/MPI and MPI/PRO. Performance tools such as PAPI and VTune are used to gather some runtime information at the hardware level. This information together with some cache theory and the hardware configuration is used to explain various performance phenomena. Tests using a real application have shown the performance of the different implementations in real practice. These results all show that the improvements of the new techniques over existing implementations

Designing Efficient Network Interfaces For System Area Networks

The network is the key component of a Cluster of Workstations/PCs. Its performance, measured in terms of bandwidth and latency, has a great impact on the overall system performance. It quickly became clear that traditional WAN/LAN technology is not too well suited for interconnecting powerful nodes into a cluster. Their poor performance too often slows down communication-intensive applications. This observation led to the birth of a new class of networks called System Area Networks (SAN). The ATOLL network introduces a new optimized architecture for SANs. On a single chip, not one but four network interfaces (NI) have been implemented, together with an on-chip 4x4 full-duplex switch and four link interfaces. This unique "Network on a Chip" architecture is best suited for interconnecting SMP nodes, where multiple CPUs are given an exclusive NI and do not have to share a single interface. It also removes the need for any additional switching hardware, since the four byte-wide full-duplex links can be connected by cables with neighbor nodes in an arbitrary network topology

Researching methods for efficient hardware specification, design and implementation of a next generation communication architecture

The objective of this work is to create and implement a System Area Network (SAN) architecture called EXTOLL embedded in the current world of systems, software and standards based on the experiences obtained during the ATOLL project development and test. The topics of this work also cover system design methodology and educational issues in order to provide appropriate human resources and work premises. The scope of this work in the EXTOLL SAN project was: • the Xbar architecture and routing (multi-layer routing, virtual channels and their arbitration, routing formats, dead lock aviodance, debug features, automation of reuse) • the on-chip module communication architecture and parts of the host communication • the network processor architecture and integration • the development of the design methodology and the creation of the design flow • the team education and work structure. In order to successfully leverage student know-how and work flow methodology for this research project the SEED curricula changes has been governed by the Hochschul Didaktik Zentrum resulting in a certificate for "Hochschuldidaktik" and excellence in university education. The complexity of the target system required new approaches in concurrent Hardware/Software codesign. The concept of virtual hardware prototypes has been established and excessively used during design space exploration and software interface design

A survey of techniques and technologies for web-based real-time interactive rendering

When exploring a virtual environment, realism depends mainly on two factors: realistic images and real-time feedback (motions, behaviour etc.). In this context, photo realism and physical validity of computer generated images required by emerging applications, such as advanced e-commerce, still impose major challenges in the area of rendering research whereas the complexity of lighting phenomena further requires powerful and predictable computing if time constraints must be attained. In this technical report we address the state-of-the-art on rendering, trying to put the focus on approaches, techniques and technologies that might enable real-time interactive web-based clientserver rendering systems. The focus is on the end-systems and not the networking technologies used to interconnect client(s) and server(s).Siemens; Bertelsmann mediaSystems GmbH; Eptron Multimedia; Instituto Politécnico do Porto - ISEP-IPP; Institute Laboratory for Mixed Realities at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, LMR; Mälardalen Real-Time Research Centre (MRTC) at Mälardalen University in Västerås; Q-Systems

A shared-disk parallel cluster file system

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Informática Pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaToday, clusters are the de facto cost effective platform both for high performance computing (HPC) as well as IT environments. HPC and IT are quite different environments and differences include, among others, their choices on file systems and storage: HPC favours parallel file systems geared towards maximum I/O bandwidth, but which are not fully POSIX-compliant and were devised to run on top of (fault prone) partitioned storage; conversely, IT data centres favour both external disk arrays (to provide highly available storage) and POSIX compliant file systems, (either general purpose or shared-disk cluster file systems, CFSs). These specialised file systems do perform very well in their target environments provided that applications do not require some lateral features, e.g., no file locking on parallel file systems, and no high performance writes over cluster-wide shared files on CFSs. In brief, we can say that none of the above approaches solves the problem of providing high levels of reliability and performance to both worlds. Our pCFS proposal makes a contribution to change this situation: the rationale is to take advantage on the best of both – the reliability of cluster file systems and the high performance of parallel file systems. We don’t claim to provide the absolute best of each, but we aim at full POSIX compliance, a rich feature set, and levels of reliability and performance good enough for broad usage – e.g., traditional as well as HPC applications, support of clustered DBMS engines that may run over regular files, and video streaming. pCFS’ main ideas include: · Cooperative caching, a technique that has been used in file systems for distributed disks but, as far as we know, was never used either in SAN based cluster file systems or in parallel file systems. As a result, pCFS may use all infrastructures (LAN and SAN) to move data. · Fine-grain locking, whereby processes running across distinct nodes may define nonoverlapping byte-range regions in a file (instead of the whole file) and access them in parallel, reading and writing over those regions at the infrastructure’s full speed (provided that no major metadata changes are required). A prototype was built on top of GFS (a Red Hat shared disk CFS): GFS’ kernel code was slightly modified, and two kernel modules and a user-level daemon were added. In the prototype, fine grain locking is fully implemented and a cluster-wide coherent cache is maintained through data (page fragments) movement over the LAN. Our benchmarks for non-overlapping writers over a single file shared among processes running on different nodes show that pCFS’ bandwidth is 2 times greater than NFS’ while being comparable to that of the Parallel Virtual File System (PVFS), both requiring about 10 times more CPU. And pCFS’ bandwidth also surpasses GFS’ (600 times for small record sizes, e.g., 4 KB, decreasing down to 2 times for large record sizes, e.g., 4 MB), at about the same CPU usage.Lusitania, Companhia de Seguros S.A, Programa IBM Shared University Research (SUR

Cluster Computing Review

In the past decade there has been a dramatic shift from mainframe or ‘host−centric’ computing to a distributed ‘client−server’ approach. In the next few years this trend is likely to continue with further shifts towards ‘network−centric’ computing becoming apparent. All these trends were set in motion by the invention of the mass−reproducible microprocessor by Ted Hoff of Intel some twenty−odd years ago. The present generation of RISC microprocessors are now more than a match for mainframes in terms of cost and performance. The long−foreseen day when collections of RISC microprocessors assembled together as a parallel computer could out perform the vector supercomputers has finally arrived. Such high−performance parallel computers incorporate proprietary interconnection networks allowing low−latency, high bandwidth inter−processor communications. However, for certain types of applications such interconnect optimization is unnecessary and conventional LAN technology is sufficient. This has led to the realization that clusters of high−performance workstations can be realistically used for a variety of applications either to replace mainframes, vector supercomputers and parallel computers or to better manage already installed collections of workstations. Whilst it is clear that ‘cluster computers’ have limitations, many institutions and companies are exploring this option. Software to manage such clusters is at an early stage of development and this report reviews the current state−of−the−art. Cluster computing is a rapidly maturing technology that seems certain to play an important part in the ‘network−centric’ computing future