Instrumentation Grant for Research in Parallel and Distributed Computing

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

EIA-9986032 David K. Lowenthal University of Georgia Instrumentation Grant for Research in Parallel and Distributed Computing The Parallel and Distributed Computing Laboratory at the University of Georgia, established in 1998 is dedicated to making parallel computing simple, portable, and efficient. The activities of the laboratory include designing and implementing efficient parallel algorithms, developing highly configurable environments for the monitoring, visualization, and interactive steering of distributed programs, and developing lower-level systems that transparently and dynamically determine how to distribute data across processors. Currently research in the laboratory is primarily done on networks of commodity uniprocessor workstations. The attractive price/performance ration of small, bus-based multiprocessors relative to uniprocessors makes it likely that two-and four-way multiprocessors will be commonplace within a few years. Still, to create large parallel machines, these multiprocessors will be networked together to create a hybrid (both shared-and distributed-memory) machine. This poses interesting problems, including (1) should the machine be treated as distributed or both shared and distributed. (2) How do we make full use of such machines and (3) how can a user monitor and control program on such machines? The Department of computer Science at the University of Georgia seeks funds to purchase eight Pentium-based multiprocessors with four processors each. A 100Mb/s Ethernet and an SGI fronted to serve as a console for visualization and interactive control. This equipment will be used by three projects. Parallel and Distributed algorithms for computational biology Monitoring, visualization, and interactive steering, and An integrated compiler/run-time system for global data distribution