On Thu, 1 Apr 1999, Christoph Best wrote:
> 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
Hello Christoph:
We are currently using BIP (http://lhpca.univ-lyon1.fr/) in conjunction
with MPICH for our beowulf. BIP is an API for Myrinet networks.
You can look at our setup in a little more detail by pointing your browser
to http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/pcl/. I don't know if BIP is available for
alpha processors.
Steve Castillo
Interim Department Head
Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
New Mexico State University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
