Building high-performance clusters with LAM/MPI
Conclusion
Many applications used in engineering, oil exploration, simulation, and scientific research require the power of parallel computation, and that is why developers continue to use LAM/MPI for building HPC applications.
Although the next-generation Open MPI implementation [6] includes many new features that are not present in LAM/MPI, LAM/MPI has a very large base of users who are quite happy with its reliability, scalability, and performance.
Improving Performance
In parallel computation scenarios, the main objective is often to reduce the total wall clock execution time rather than simply reduce CPU time. Because so many different factors are present, you cannot expect a linear improvement in performance just by adding more and more nodes.
One of the most important factors is the inherent parallelism present in the code (i.e., how well the problem is broken into pieces for parallel execution). From an infrastructure point of view, many additional factors can also contribute to improved performance.
In most LAM/MPI cluster implementations, because client nodes have to communicate with each other through the MPI architecture, it is important to have a fast and dedicated network between nodes (e.g., gigabit Ethernet interfaces with bonding).
Also, it is a good idea to create a separate VLAN for a private communication network so that no other traffic can contribute to performance degradation.
If your application is performing any kind of data mining (which is often the case for commercial implementations of LAM/MPI), disk I/O from master and client nodes also has an effect on performance. However, because of the nature of parallel execution, it is important that source data for data mining (or the executables in simpler implementations) is available to all nodes for simultaneous read and write operations.
If you are using SAN-based external disks along with NFS, setting NFS parameters can be beneficial in terms of performance improvement. If you are using NAS storage subsystems and NFS/CIFS protocols to make shared data sources available to all nodes for simultaneous read/write, it is highly recommended that you use a separate VLAN and Ethernet interfaces on each node for disk I/O from the NAS subsystem, so that storage traffic is isolated from MPI traffic.
Finally, cluster filesystems (such as GFS, GPFS, and Veritas) can also help speed up disk I/O for large LAM/MPI implementations.
Infos
- LAM/MPI website: http://www.lam-mpi.org/
- C3: http://www.csm.ornl.gov/torc/C3/
- C3 download: http://www.csm.ornl.gov/torc/C3/C3softwarepage.shtml
- LAM/MPI download page: http://www.lam-mpi.org/7.1/download.php
- LAM run time in Debian:http://packages.debian.org/lenny/lam-runtime
- Open MPI: http://www.open-mpi.org
- LAM/MPI User's Guide: http://www.lam-mpi.org/download/files/7.1.4-user.pdf
- Openshaw, Stan, and Ian Turton. High Performance Computing and the Art of Parallel Programming. ISBN: 0415156920
- Lafferty, Edward L., et al. Parallel Computing: An Introduction. ISBN: 0815513291
« Previous 1 2 3
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Endless OS 6 has Arrived
After more than a year since the last update, the latest release of Endless OS is now available for general usage.
-
Fedora Asahi 40 Remix Available for Macs with Apple Silicon
If you've been anticipating KDE's Plasma 6 for your Apple Silicon-powered Mac, then you're in luck.
-
Red Hat Adds New Deployment Option for Enterprise Linux Platforms
Red Hat has re-imagined enterprise Linux for an AI future with Image Mode.
-
OSJH and LPI Release 2024 Open Source Pros Job Survey Results
See what open source professionals look for in a new role.
-
Proton 9.0-1 Released to Improve Gaming with Steam
The latest release of Proton 9 adds several improvements and fixes an issue that has been problematic for Linux users.
-
So Long Neofetch and Thanks for the Info
Today is a day that every Linux user who enjoys bragging about their system(s) will mourn, as Neofetch has come to an end.
-
Ubuntu 24.04 Comes with a “Flaw"
If you're thinking you might want to upgrade from your current Ubuntu release to the latest, there's something you might want to consider before doing so.
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.