An MPI-IO Interface to HPSS

Abstract

This paper describes an implementation of the proposed MPI-IO standard for parallel I/O. Our system uses third-party transfer to move data over an external network between the processors where it is used and the I/O devices where it resides. Data travels directly from source to destination, without the need for shuffling it among processors or funneling it through a central node. Our distributed server model lets multiple compute nodes share the burden of coordinating data transfers. The system is built on the High Performance Storage System (HPSS), and a prototype version runs on a Meiko CS-2 parallel computer.