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Parallel Computing

Parallel computing is the science and art of programming computers that can do more than one operation at once, concurrently, during the same cycle, often via having more than one processor. Some parallel computers are just regular workstations that have more than one processor in them; others are giant single computers with many processors (these are generally referred to as supercomputers); and others are networks of individual computers. A network of computers configured to coordinate on computing problems is also called a cluster. Parallel computers can run some types of programs far faster than traditional single processor computers, often termed the von Neumann architecture. Programs that work on a single-processor computer don't automatically work on a parallel computer. Programmers must explicitly specify how to divide up the computing work between all available nodes. Information about writing programs especially for parallel computers is in Parallel_Computing/Programming. Many people have written libraries to help programmers write programs for parallel computers. Parallel computing is a very similar field to distributed computing. Both types of computing involve breaking apart a problem into many pieces and assigning each part to a computer, but the nodes of a distributed computer normally not communicate with each other while performing their computations, because they may be great distances apart. Sites related to distributed computing are in Computers/Computer_Science/Distributed_Computing. Information about supercomputers is located in Computers/Supercomputing.

Sites submitted to this category should contain substantial information specific to beowulfs. If your site is generally about parallel programming or other types of parallel computers, please submit it to the main Parallel Computing category.

Beowulf

The word 'beowulf' refers to a class of parallel computers. A Beowulf-class computer is a cluster computer composed of bare-bones computers (generally cheap ones, containing only a processor, memory, and a network card) connected with fast networking. Special system software allows all the individual computers in the cluster to work together efficiently. Beowulfs were developed as a cheap alternative to buying a monolithic supercomputer, and can be put together from generally accessible parts.

Conferences

This category is for homepages of parallel computing conferences.

The Computers/Computer_Science/Conferences category contains conferences whose scope is broader than parallel computing.

If your conference has its home page in the same place every year, please submit to this category. If the home page moves around with the host of the conference, please submit each year''s conference site to the appropriate year subcategory.

Documentation

This category contains technical information about parallel computing. Information about how to write programs for parallel computers is in Parallel_Computing/Programming/Documentation.

Programming

This category contains sites related to parallel programming. This includes parallel compilers, message-passing libraries, parallel programming tools, and documentation.

Documentation about specific parallel programs can be found (if it exists) in the category listing that program. Documentation about writing parallel programs in specific languages is under Computers/Parallel_Computing/Programming/Languages.

Projects

A parallel computing project may be any research endeavor related to some aspect of parallel programming. Research that uses parallel computers to accomplish its goals (that is, research in another scientific field that involves running simulations or using visualization software) is found elsewhere in the directory (somewhere in Science hierarchy, in the specific category that seems most related to the subject of the research). Many of these projects are new and interesting ways of making parallel computers; others relate to parallel algorithms.
Many institutes have lots of research projects. Listings of research institutes that have a significant computer science bent (many of which have divisions that do scalable programming research) are in Computers/Computer_Science/Research_Institutes.

Submissions to this category should be home pages of individual projects involving parallel programming research.

If your site is the home page of a research institution, please submit it to the Computer Science Research category. (You may submit specific pages from your site to this category if they contain information about your parallel programming projects.) If your site is a supercomputing facility, it also belongs in the Computer Science Research category.

If your parallel programming project has produced a software package that is publicly available (either commercially or open source), please submit it to the Parallel Programming category.

Please tell us what your project''s acronym stands for, and give a short description of the project''s goals and what information we can find on your site.

Vendors

This category contains vendors of parallel computing hardware and software. Vendors that specialize in Beowulf clusters are listed in the Computers/Parallel_Computing/Beowulf/Vendors category.