− 1 − Enabling a PC Cluster for High-Performance Computing1

Due to their excellent cost/performance ratio, clusters of PCs can be attractive high-performance computing (HPC) platforms. Yet, their limited communication performance over standard LANs is still prohibitive for parallel applications. The project “Shared Memory in a LAN-like Environment“ (SMiLE) at LRR-TUM adopts Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) interconnect technology to build, and provide software for, a PC cluster which, with hardware-based distributed shared memory (DSM) and high-performance communication characteristics, is regarded as well suited for HPC. The paper describes the key features of the enabling technology, SCI. It then discusses the develop-ments and important results of the SMiLE project so far: the development and initial performance of a PCI/SCI interface card, and the design and initial performance results of low-latency communica-tion layers, Active Messages and a sockets emulation library.