Abstract
The PVM system, a software framework for heterogeneous concurrent computing in networked environments, has evolved in the past several years into a viable technology for distributed and parallel processing in a variety of disciplines. PVM supports a straightforward but functionally complete message passing model, and is capable of harnessing the combined resources of typically heterogeneous networked computing platforms to deliver high levels of performance and functionality. In this paper, we describe the architecture of PVM system, and discuss its computing model, the programming interface it supports, auxiliary facilities for process groups and MPP support, and some of the internal implementation techniques employed. Performance issues, dealing primarily with communication overheads, are analyzed, and recent findings as well as experimental enhancements are presented. In order to demonstrate the viability of PVM for large scale scientific supercomputing, the paper includes representative case studies in materials science, environmental science, and climate modeling. We conclude with a discussion of related projects and future directions, and comment on near and long-term potential for network computing with the PVM system.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 531-545 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Parallel Computing |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1994 |
Funding
PVM is the mainstay of the Heterogeneous Network Computing research project, a collaborative venture between Emory University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee. In addition to the authors, Keith Moore, and Weicheng Jiang of UT, and Adam Beguelin of CMU are co-investigators. This project is a basic research effort aimed at advancing science, and is wholly funded by research appropriations from the US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the State of Tennessee. However, owing to its experimental nature, the PVM project produces software that is of utility to researchers in the scientific community and to others. This software is, and has been distributed freely in the interest of advancement of science and is being used in computational applications around the world. t Research supported by the Applied Mathematical Sciences program, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy, under Grant No. DE-FG05-91ER25105, and contract DE-AC05-84OR21400 with Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.; and the National Science Foundation, under Award Nos. CCR-9118787 and CCR-8809615.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| State of Tennessee | |
| National Science Foundation | CCR-8809615, CCR-9118787 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | DE-FG05-91ER25105, DE-AC05-84OR21400 |
| Basic Energy Sciences |
Keywords
- Case studies
- Message passing
- Networked computing platforms
- PVM system
- Performance