(i) Basic communication support. We show that almost raw hardware performance can be provided to the user by secure, user-level communication systems on commodity network interfaces (NI) for clusters. I will also address the issue of how reliable communication and support for dynamic network mapping and configuration can be provided at a very low additional cost.
(ii) Performance bottlenecks in supporting the shared virtual memory (SVM) programming model on this communication layer. We use detailed architectural simulations to examine several aspects of the architecture under consideration (network of workstations connected with a fast network).
(iii) Using network interface and communication layer support to enhance the performance of the SVM programming model. Starting from an implementation of an SVM system on networks of 4-way Intel SMPs connected with a Myrinet network, we study how best a smart or programmable network interface can accelerate SVM systems.