Basic HTML version of Foils prepared 13 February 2000

Foil 11 Parallel Computers -- Classic Overview

From Methodology of Computational Science CPS615 Computational Science -- Spring Semester 2000. by Geoffrey C. Fox
Parallel computers allow several CPUs to contribute to a computation simultaneously.
For our purposes, a parallel computer has three types of parts:
  • Processors
  • Memory modules
  • Communication / synchronization network
Key points:
  • All processors must be busy for peak speed.
  • Local memory is directly connected to each processor.
  • Accessing local memory is much faster than other memory.
  • Synchronization is expensive, but necessary for correctness.
Colors Used in Following pictures

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