Characteristics of the MasPar parallel I/O system

Input/output speed continues to present a performance challenge for high-performance computing systems. This is because technology improves processor speed, memory speed and capacity, and disk capacity at a much higher-rate than mass storage latency. Developments in I/O architecture have been attempting to reduce this performance gap. The MasPar I/O architecture includes many interesting features. This work presents an experimental study of the dynamic characteristics of the MasPar parallel I/O. Performance measurements were collected and compared for the MasPar MP-1 and MP-2 testbeds at NASA GSFC. The results have revealed strengths as well as areas for potential improvements and are helpful to software developers, systems managers, and system designers.<
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