Cluster Computing:

CSILABS AND U OF MISSISSIPPI CO-SPONSOR HPC SEMINAR

Representatives from Microsoft, Intel, Cornell Theory Center, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and University of Florida High Performance Computing and Simulations Research Lab will present information on parallel computing issues in an HPC Seminar at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. The Seminar, co-sponsored by CSILabs and University of Mississippi, will be held Thursday, October 2 from 9:30am to 3:30pm.

Chip Watson, Jefferson Lab High Performance Computing Group Leader, will speak on cluster computing with a Gigabit Ethernet mesh network to achieve higher bandwidth at a lower cost than the other popular switched cluster interconnects. Watson will describe how the advantages of Gigabit Ethernet mesh networks can be leveraged in lattice quantum chromodynamics applications.

Sarp Oral, Ph.D. Candidate and Team Leader for both the SAN and WAN Research Teams at the University of Florida High Performance Computing and Simulation Research Lab, will present an experimental analysis of the performance of commercial System Area Networks such as Dolphin SCI, Myricom Myrinet and Fabric Networks Infiniband. These systems will be evaluated in terms of user- level inter-processor communication and overall parallel computation performance using vendor-provided micro benchmarks and widely accepted benchmarks such as PALLAS PMB-MP1 and NAS2.3 parallel suite.

Michael Willis, Field Sales Engineer with Intel Corporation, will present information on the use of Itanium 2 processors in demanding enterprise and research environments. Itanium 2-based platforms enable maximization of ROI by delivering industry-leading performance at a generally lower cost and with greater choice than proprietary RISC technologies.

In cooperation with Microsoft Corporation, Lee Grant, Senior System Consulting Specialist at Cornell Theory Center, will present the results from CTC's testing and development of robust Windows HPC solution stacks for broad industry deployment including: UNIX to Windows code porting, optimization and porting to parallel environments; systems planning and integration; systems and application training and testing; benchmarking.

Registration for the Seminar is free and includes lunch and an entry in a drawing to win a Microsoft Xbox. To register, please contact Jason Hale at the University of Mississippi at jghale@olemiss.edu. For directions and presentation abstracts, please visit http://www.csilabs.net.