Question

1) Briefly explain the following basic techniques and technologies:

a. High-performance computing (HPC) system

b. High-throughput computing (HTC) system

c. Peer-to-peer (P2P) network

d. Computer cluster versus computational grid

e. Service-oriented architecture (SOA)

f. Virtual machine versus virtual infrastructure

2) Explain differences between multicore CPUs and GPUs in terms of architecture and usage

Answer 1

1)a. High-performance computing (HPC) is the use of super computers and parallel processing techniques for solving complex computational problems. HPC technology focuses on developing parallel processing algorithms and systems by incorporating both administration and parallel computational techniques.High-performance computing is typically used for solving advanced problems and performing research activities through computer modeling, simulation and analysis. HPC systems have the ability to deliver sustained performance through the concurrent use of computing resources.The terms high-performance computing and supercomputing are sometimes used interchangeably.

b.High-throughput computing (HTC) is a computer science term to describe the use of many computing resources over long periods of time to accomplish a computational task.High-Performance Computing or HPC, is the application of supercomputers to computational problems that are either too large for standard computers or would take too long. A desktop computer generally has a single processing chip, commonly called a CPU. A HPC system, on the other hand, is essentially a network of nodes, each of which contains one or more processing chips, as well as its own memory.

c. In a P2P network, the peers are computer systems which are connected to each other via the Internet. Files can be shared directly between systems on the network without the need of a central server. In other words, each computer on a P2P network becomes a file server as well as a client.The only requirements for a computer to join a peer-to-peer network are an Internet connection and P2P software. Common P2P software programs include Kazaa, Limewire, BearShare, Morpheus, and Acquisition. These programs connect to a P2P network, such as Gnutella,which allows the computer to access thousands of other systems on the network.Once connected to the network, P2P software allows you to search for files on other people's computers. Meanwhile, other users on the network can search for files on your computer, but typically only within a single folder that you have designated to share. While P2P networking makes file sharing easy and convenient, is also has led to a lot of software piracy and illegal music downloads. Therefore, it is best to be on the safe side and only download software and music from legitimate websites.

d.When two or more computers are used together to solve a problem, it is called a computer cluster . Then there are several ways of implementing the cluster, Beowulf is maybe the most known way to do it, but basically it is just cooperation between computers in order to solve a task or a problem. Cluster Computing is then just the thing you do when you use a computer cluster.Grid computing is something similar to cluster computing, it makes use of several computers connected is some way, to solve a large problem. There is often some confusion about the difference between grid vs. cluster computing. The big difference is that a cluster is homogenous while grids are heterogeneous. The computers that are part of a grid can run different operating systems and have different hardware whereas the cluster computers all have the same hardware and OS. A grid can make use of spare computing power on a desktop computer while the machines in a cluster are dedicated to work as a single unit and nothing else. Grid are inherently distributed by its nature over a LAN, metropolitan or WAN. On the other hand, the computers in the cluster are normally contained in a single location or complex.Another difference lies in the way resources are handled. In case of Cluster, the whole system (all nodes) behave like a single system view and resources are managed by centralized resource manager. In case of Grid, every node is autonomous i.e. it has its own resource manager and behaves like an independent entity.

e.Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a style of software design where services are provided to the other components by application components, through a communication protocol over a network. The basic principles of service-oriented architecture are independent of vendors, products and technologies.A service is a discrete unit of functionality that can be accessed remotely and acted upon and updated independently, such as retrieving a credit card statement online.

f.A virtual infrastructure lets you share your physical resources of multiple machines across your entire infrastructure. A virtual machine lets you share the resources of a single physical computer across multiple virtual machines for maximum efficiency.

2)CPU--It Stands for Central Processing Unit, it focuses on Low-latency.It good at Processing serial instructions.Contains Fewer powerful cores.Feature Control logic for out-of-order and speculative executions. Its Speed is Effective .Memory consumption- High .

GPU--It Stands for Graphics Processing Unit.It focuses on High throughput.Its Good at Processing parallel instructionsIt Contains A lot of weaker coresIts Feature - Architecture is tolerant of memory latency.Its Speed Can be higher than the CPU's.Memory consumption -Low