Architecture implications of high-speed I/O for distributed-memory computers
Thomas Groß, Peter Steenkiste · 1994
We consider the problem of high-speed I/O for a single application running on multiple nodes of a distributed-memory parallel computer. Our model is that the parallel system is connected to an I/O system that provides the interface between the internal connections of the parallel system and one or more external connections, such as HIPPI links. We identify two primary operations for this I/O system: scattering data from a high speed link across several lower speed links and gathering data from multiple links onto a single high speed link. We show that these core operations are the basis of the I/O system, independent of the relative speeds of the internal and external connections.