One Node For One Process

Multi-core is on my mind again. I can’t help it. The other day, I was thinking about benchmarking and what I wrote about in Good Enough Will Have To Do. Then it hit me, a possible way out of the multi-core (and GP-GPU) quagmire. Before I reveal my somewhat obvious solution, I need to set the stage.

The typical MPI program is a collection of processes that communicate via messages. These processes can live on the same multi-core node, on another node or a combination of both. Before multi-core there was one or two processes per node. The user often had some control over where his MPI processes would go — either dispersed, one per node or compact, two per node. And, more importantly, the user usually knew what arrangement worked best with his/her codes. With multi-core this has changed a bit.

The user now pretty much is…

1. Exercising Multi-core
2. The State of Oracle/Sun Grid Engine
3. A Cluster In Your Pocket
4. Moving HPC Closer to The Desktop
5. Cluster In The Clouds