Performance evaluation of a Gigabit Ethernet switch and Myrinet using real application cores

摘要

- Traditionally, high-end clusters use special purpose network hardware, thereby losing the cost benefit offered in mass market Riding on the wave of Ethernet popularity, Gigabit Ethernet is fast becoming a commodity item. Given a scalable switching architecture, we believe it can be a cost-effective alternative to interconnect parallel systems. This study evaluates the performance of the Avici Gigabit Ethernet switch against Myrinet. We simulate a 256-node cluster running core algorithms from real parallel applications, and then compare raw performance figures such as bandwidth and latency, as well as more complex parameters such as jitter, routing, and points of congestion in the fabric.