Parallel Computing Works!

A clear illustration of how parallel computers can be successfully applied to large-scale scientific computations. This book demonstrates how a variety of applications in physics, biology, mathematics and other sciences were implemented on real parallel computers to produce new scientific results. It investigates issues of fine-grained parallelism relevant for future supercomputers with particular emphasis on hypercube architecture. The authors describe how they used an experimental approach to configure different massively parallel machines, design and implement basic system software, and develop algorithms for frequently used mathematical computations. They also devise performance models, measure the performance characteristics of several computers, and create a high-performance computing facility based exclusively on parallel computers. By addressing all issues involved in scientific problem solving, Parallel Computing Works! provides valuable insight into computational science for large-scale parallel architectures. For those in the sciences, the findings reveal the usefulness of an important experimental tool. Anyone in supercomputing and related computational fields will gain a new perspective on the potential contributions of parallelism. Includes over 30 full-color illustrations.