Efficient shared memory for testing parallel algorithms on distributed systems

A distributed data structure called a MOOSE (modifiable object structure), which is both efficient enough and general enough to be used by a wide variety of parallel algorithms, is outlined. The MOOSE structure is aimed at a loosely coupled distributed system in which several processors are connected over a local area network. It is implemented in the high-level distributed programming language SR on several Sun-2 and Sun-3 workstations running the Unix operating system and connected by an Ethernet. The MOOSE shared memory has been designed with customizable features for efficiency of implementation in such an environment. This enables the communication and computation performance of parallel algorithms on non-shared-memory hardware to be studied. If the application is run in the background on several network nodes, automatic load balancing is achieved and the programs may be tolerant of node failure during the computation