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Getting Started

The Pooch web site is designed to accomodate a variety of users. Which kind of user are you?

  • First-Time Clustering - Is this your first introduction to clusters and parallel computing? If so, you've definitely come to the right place.

  • Creating Parallel Code - Are you already familiar parallel computing? This is the place to get into creating new supercomputer-compatible code using clusters.

  • Porting Parallel Code - Do you have a working MPI code? Start here to port your code to and run it on an easy-to-use Mac cluster.

  • Administering a Mac Cluster - Are you interested in administering a Mac cluster? See these links to administrative tools and example utilities.

  • Parallel Application User - Interested in using precompiled applications? Start with existing solutions for your easy-to-use Mac cluster.

  • Application Developer - Are you interested in writing GUI-based applications for a cluster? Learn how to parallelize your application.


What is Pooch?
Mac Cluster Recipe
Download Pooch
Purchase Pooch
Features
Screen Shots
Scripting
Visualization
Command-Line Interface
Web Interface
MPI (Message-Passing Interface)
Parallel Computing Tutorials
Pooch Documentation
Pooch Links
Cluster SDK for HPC
Consulting Services

Follow these tracks introducing you to the resources available on the Pooch web site that you need initially. We provide additional materials addressing topics you will find increasingly useful as your experience and needs grow.

First-Time Clustering

If this is your first time using parallel and cluster computing:

  • What is Pooch? - introduce yourself to Pooch and parallel computing

  • Your Introduction to Parallel Computing:

    • Parallelization - learn about the issues involved in writing parallel code

    • Getting to Know MPI - get to know the fundamental calls of MPI and build on your knowledge

    • Parallel Zoology - compare and contrast parallel computing types: distributed, grid, and cluster computing and more

  • Tutorials on Writing Parallel Code:

    • Parallel Knock - an exhibition of elemental message-passing in a simple parallel code

    • Parallel Adder - a tutorial on converting a single-processor code with independent work into a simple parallel code

    • Parallel Pascal's Triangle - a tutorial on parallelizing a propagation-style single-processor code, implementing a calculation requiring local communication

Start with the recipe and a trial version of Pooch to begin building and using a cluster yourself:

then learn to write parallel code using the examples in the SDK:

You're welcome to substitute the code examples from the tutorials into the SDK materials too.

Creating Parallel Code

If you are already familiar with MPI and want to get started with a Mac cluster:

Start with the recipe and a trial version of Pooch to build and begin using a cluster yourself

then you may start writing parallel code using the examples in the SDK:

as a starting point. We find the built-in diagnostics and visualization tools in MacMPI to be very useful for debugging:

  • Visualization - take advantage of the communications visualization window present in MacMPI_X

If you'd like to experiment with other parallel computing codes, you may examine these codes:

  • Parallel Knock - an exhibition of elemental message-passing in a simple parallel code

  • Parallel Adder - a tutorial on converting a single-processor code with independent work into a simple parallel code

  • Parallel Pascal's Triangle - a tutorial on parallelizing a propagation-style single-processor code, implementing a calculation requiring local communication

  • Tutorials - a list of other tutorials on parallelizing code

Porting Parallel Code

If you have an existing MPI code and want to run it on a Mac cluster:

Start with the recipe and a trial version of Pooch to build and begin using a Mac cluster yourself:

then you may pick apart the makefile and project file examples in the SDK:

You may either merge this data with your existing code or substitute your code into these examples. We find the built-in diagnostics and visualization tools in MacMPI to be very useful for debugging:

  • Visualization - take advantage of the communications visualization window present in MacMPI_X

Administering a Mac Cluster

If you want to administrate a Mac cluster:

after designing your cluster and setting it up:

you can use the built-in queuing system in Pooch or begin customizing your cluster access, including custom queuing, using AppleScript and/or Unix scripts using:

  • Scripting - see examples of scripts that direct Pooch to scan for nodes and launch jobs

  • Unix CLI - direct Pooch from the Unix command line using this open-source utility

Advanced administrators can learn how to administer users and compute time quotas in Pooch Pro:

  • Pooch Manual - see the Pooch Pro chapter of the documentation for details

Parallel Application User

If you want to use precompiled applications with a Mac cluster:

Start with the recipe and a trial version of Pooch to build and begin using a cluster yourself

Other parallel computing applications are listed:

Application Developer

If you have an application you'd like to parallelize for a Mac cluster:

Use the recipe and a trial version of Pooch to build a cluster for your development:

then you can experiment with writing parallel code using the examples available here:

or use them as a starting point. We find the built-in diagnostics and visualization tools in MacMPI to be very useful for debugging:

  • Visualization - take advantage of the communications visualization window present in MacMPI_X

You might want to examine the source code of a parallel application:




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