Hi everybody,
our group is currently considering setting up an O(100) processors
compute cluster instead of buying a commercial compute server. It
seems to us that single-processor boards with the new Alpha 21264
interconnected by Myrinet will be the choice of the day for our
problem class (lattice gauge theories, needing lots of communication
bandwidth). Yes, we might get this kind of money, but the resulting
system has to beat industry-standard systems in performance.
Our problem is now that there are very few 21264 around, that it is
unclear what kind of boards will there be in the near future and how
they will perform, and how much they will cost in the end. There seems
to be a lot of experience with SMP Pentiums and Myrinet, but we think
that the new Alpha could outperform them on our application. The
operating system will probably be GNU/Linux.
As the deadline for our project nears, I would appreciate any hints,
tips, or comments. We would very much like to hear from people that
use (or are going to) the 21264 for scientific computing cluster
applications, especially with a high-speed interconnect like
Myrinet. Or maybe somebody knew whom to contact at Compaq/DEC about
this?
One point is here that we will need MPI directly over the netword
card, without the TCP/IP stack. As far as we have learned, there is an
implementation from RWCP/SCore, and a commercial one from ParaStation
in Karlsruhe (Germany), and more maybe to come with VIA, or maybe not.
Thank you very much!
-Christoph
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Christoph Best [EMAIL PROTECTED]
John von Neumann Institute for Computing, Juelich, Germany
+49-(0)2461-61-2301, Fax -2430 http://www.hlrz.kfa-juelich.de/~cbest
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
