Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer
From: raja@osc.edu (Raja Daoud)
Subject: Complete MPI std. implementation on LAM available.
Organization: The Ohio Supercomputer Center
Date: 18 May 1994 15:32:35 -0400
Message-ID: <2rdqgj$aen@hawkeye.osc.edu>

Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) announces the general release of a
full MPI standard implementation for LAM, a UNIX cluster computing
environment.  The software is available in source code form under the
terms of the GNU general license (V2).  Distribution is via anonymous
ftp from tbag.osc.edu under pub/lam.

The previous release supported the MPI draft subset of Nov. 2, 1993.
This new release supports the final MPI standard of April 15, 1994.

MPI Key Features:

- all communication modes: standard, buffered, synchronous, ready
- hierarchical derived datatypes
- intercommunicators
- support for persistent communication requests
- efficient mapping to LAM message passing
- robust error handling, including application cleanup on MPI_Abort()
- non-polling MPI_Wait*() calls
- heterogeneous UNIX clusters

In addition, commands are provided to monitor and control the messages
and processes of an application.  Message information includes source
and destination ranks, tag, length, and context ID (representing the
communicator used).  Process information includes the MPI function
called and its key parameters.  Processes can be paused, resumed, or
terminated, and buffered messages can be deleted.  This level of control
and monitoring is a powerful tool assisting in application development.

MPI applications can be started either from the command line or from
a schema file.  This provides the flexibility required by MIMD programs
while maintaining ease of use for SPMD applications.

In addition to MPI, LAM provides a rich environment for developing
sophisticated parallel tools and applications.  It supports two additional
APIs, namely PVM and LAM's native interface, along with commands to fully
monitor and control applications written using them.

Additional LAM Features:

- PVM compatibility
- parallel I/O
- dynamic process groups
- micro-kernel, multi-process, modular structure
- easy transition to dedicated h/w

The factory default software supports the following platforms:

	Sun 4 (sparc), SunOS 4.1.3
	Sun 4 (sparc), Solaris 2.3
	SGI IRIX 4.0.5
	IBM RS/6000, AIX v3r2
	DEC AXP, OSF/1 V1.3

Documentation

There are user guides for C and Fortran programmers as well as a complete
set of manual pages covering every function and command program.

-=-

LAM is a subset of Trollius, an environment for UNIX clusters + MPP.
Trollius was originally developed at the Cornell Theory Center.
Trollius is a trademark of The Ohio State University and the Cornell
Research Foundation.

LAM development was sponsored by OSC, OSU, Cray Research Inc., and
Alex Informatique.

