A parallel file system called Bridge that distributes each file across multiple storage devices and processors has been designed and prototyped. The approach is based on the notion of an interleaved file, in which consecutive logical blocks are assigned to different physical nodes. Naive programs are able to access files just as they would with a conventional file system, while more sophisticated programs can export pieces of their code to the processors managing the data, for optimum performance. Early analytical and experimental results indicate that Bridge will deliver good parallel speedup for configurations in excess of 32 nodes with disks. High performance is achieved by exporting the I/O-related portions of an application into the processors closest to the data. A pair of applications that illustrate this technology is presented. General issues in the design of algorithms for Bridge are discussed.
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