Efficient I/O for Parallel Visualization

Abstract

While additional cores and newer architectures, such as those provided by GPU clusters, steadily increase available compute power, memory and disk access has not kept pace, and most believe this trend will continue. It is therefore of critical importance that we design systems and algorithms which make effective use of off-processor storage. This work details our experiences using parallel file systems, details performance using current systems and software, and suggests a new API which has greater potential for increased scalability.