Collaborative Research: MW: Master-Worker Middleware for Grids

Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will deploy a robust, reliable, easy-to-use tool that enables complex numerical algorithms to be executed on Grids. The thrust of this project will be to deploy MW, a software tool that encapsulates the abstractions of the master-worker paradigm, as part of the NMI software release. MW is used to implement new algorithms for several important problem classes in numerical optimization. The work will make MW a production-quality tool, enhance its ease of use and its robustness, and integrate it with other NMI middleware. The goal is to make MW the de facto standard for master-worker middleware on Grids. The intellectual merit of this proposal lies in the deployment of middleware that facilitates practical implementation of a wide range of complex numerical algorithms for solving science and engineering applications on computational Grids. The tool will add an important dimension to NMI. The broader impact of providing a comprehensive, easy-to-use tool allowing researchers, practitioners, and educators to harness the power of the computational Grid is potentially far-reaching. Researchers can simulate more complex models of physical phenomena. Practitioners can solve larger problems that more accurately approximate the system under consideration. Educators can bring the "complex to the classroom" by demonstrating and simulating complex systems for the benefit of their students.