High-Performance Computing with Desktop Workstations

摘要

The performance of modeling and simulation tools is inherently tied to the platform on which they are implemented. In most cases, this platform is a microprocessor, either in a desktop PC, PC cluster, or supercomputer. Microprocessors are used because of their familiarity to developers, not necessarily their performance on the problems of interest. We have developed the underlying techniques and technologies to produce supercomputer performance from a standard desktop workstation for a variety of applications. This is accomplished through the combined use of graphics processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), Cell processors, and standard microprocessors. Each of these platforms has unique strengths and weaknesses but can be used in concert to rival the computational power of a high-performance computer (HPC). In this paper, we discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of each platform and how they can be combined in order to achieve high performance on a variety of applications.