[Beowulf] fast interconnects

[Eugen Leitl]

On Tue, May 23, 2006 at 04:15:40AM -0700, Jim Lux wrote:

> 3) Then, there's the switch.  If it's a *switch* that sets up circuits, 
> then it can be fairly inexpensive.  If it's something that has to do packet 
> buffering, it gets a lot more expensive.

Switches (crossbars) don't scale for very many ports. Especially if you have to
do cut-through switching at those high speeds. It would be good if each NIC
would came with an integrated switch, with enough ports to wire at least a 3d
torus (where you route/switch messages via Bresenham).

In regards to keeping the wires short, does this IBM trick of keeping all
wires equal-length work well on 3d lattices, and above? This would seem to
be a must for those coming (hopefully) Hypertransport motherboards with 
connectors.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.ativel.com
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 191 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <http://www.beowulf.org/pipermail/beowulf/attachments/20060523/9e64b763/attachment.sig>