SCI evaluation in multinode environments for computing and data-processing applications

The need of high-performance low-cost computing systems motivates intense research in this field, and some very fine results have been achieved. By clustering cheap personal computers together, we placed a virtual supercomputer at our disposal. Currently, PC clusters are mainly programmed using message passing programming models. The scalable coherent interface (SCI) interconnect technology opens the possibility for shared memory models. To profit from all the advantages that SCI offers, an application programming interface (API) for SCI-based systems is needed. The SISCI API provides the necessary tools for developing SCI-based systems applications like performance tests and other similar utilities. The paper presents an easy application that uses the SCI API functions and was developed to measure the total bandwidth of a cluster. Four PCs with Pentium II and running under a Windows NT 4.0 server were connected via Dolphin's four-port switch. The application is an example of what this SCI API can offer to any user who wants to develop an SCI-based cluster application without the need of a wide knowledge on the SCI standard.