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
-
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.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.