ISC2005 tutorial to focus on interconnect architectures

released May 17, 2005

When it comes to high-performance computing, the interconnect architecture linking the computing nodes significantly affects overall system performance. As part of the International Supercomputer Conference (ISC2005) to be held June 21-24 in Heidelberg, Germany, a one-day tutorial will be offered on "Interconnection Architectures in Practice."

While HPC performance discussions often revolve around processor speed, the interconnect architectures play a critical role in allowing users to achieve the best performance of their codes. This tutorial is designed to introduce participants to the theory, architecture and future trends of state-of-the-art interconnect networks and network interfaces.

Myrinet, Infiniband, QsNet and other interconnects are designed to meet the challenging low-latency and high-bandwidth needs of clustered computing and data centers. Key features and capabilities of the different approaches from the perspective of high-performance computing will be covered. Practical guidance on how to build and configure a Linux cluster targeted for HPC users will be given. For the first time in an ISC tutorial, participants will get the chance to install, configure and benchmark the interconnects from various vendors in the hands-on portion of the tutorial. Results will be presented at the end of the tutorial.

The tutorial will be chaired by Ulrich Bruening of the University of Mannheim; other speakers will include José Duato, of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain; Ian D. Johnson, Xyratex; Chuck Seitz, Myricom; Michael Kagan, Mellanox; John Taylor, Quadrics; and Robert John Marsh, Intel.

For tutorial details, go to http://www.supercomp.de/index.php?s=tutorial&unterseite=overview.

 

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